Activision Blizzard pays $18 million to end harassment lawsuit

These are cases that have been in the headlines for several months and which may come to a halt with greenbacks, as the American judicial system allows. The federal court has indeed accepted the payment of $ 18 million by Activision Blizzard to put an end to the sexual harassment lawsuit opened last year by the EEOC, the American Commission for Fairness in the Workplace. A judged agreement the second highest ever accepted by the organizationand which brought its share of criticism, in particular from the DFEHthe California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.

Several employees, but also this department, pointed out the fact that this sum was ultimately quite low in view of the damages sought by plaintiffs. They would cover only about sixty files, where the workers’ union estimates that several hundred people were affected by these actions within the group since acquired by Microsoft. As a reminder, several thousand employees had also signed a petition against the toxic working conditions in the company, and called for the resignation of boss Bobby Kotick, also directly targeted by complaints.

This agreement with the federal court therefore puts an end to the discussion between the court and the State Department on the number of victims, but could also prevent the holding of the Californian trial which was to take place in 2023. In addition, the plaintiffs who are part of this agreement will not be tried in this second trial. Bobby Kotick, who should remain in office until the finalization of the takeover next year, had already welcomed the compensation fund of 18 million dollars launched by Activision Blizzard and then the internal cleaning. From now on, he says he is confident about the improvement announced within the company.

Our goal is to make Activision Blizzard a model for the industry, and we will continue to focus on eliminating harassment and discrimination in our workplace. Court approval of this settlement is an important step in ensuring that our employees have recourse mechanisms if they experience any form of harassment or retaliation.