A new employee files a complaint against Activision Blizzard for harassment, which completely revives the legal case already in place.
Activision Blizzard is very far from out of the woods. The studio, which is now recognized for having one of the worst working cultures in the video game industry, is once again accused of harassment in a complaint filed recently in the Los Angeles court. This was submitted by attorney Lisa Bloom, who represents a woman named Jane Doe.
This is obviously only an assumed name to protect the complainant’s anonymity, just like John Smith for men, surely because Jane is possibly still employed by the company. She has worked for Activision Blizzard as an assistant to the executive of the IT department since 2017 and describes in her complaint the treatment she has suffered for all these years.
Sexual harassment but not only
She describes acts of sexual harassment and gender discrimination, but that’s not all. She also explains that she told her colleagues about it, without specifying whether it was her superiors or the human resources department. Nevertheless, she says she was discouraged from continuing her allegations and suffered reprisals for complaining about her situation.
Following this, she therefore tried everything for everything by changing departments, but this was granted in exchange for major disadvantages. Indeed, she therefore experienced a drop in salary as well as the removal of some of her responsibilities.
His complaint also adds a dimension that had not been mentioned so far and which is very likely not to work in the company’s favor. Indeed, Jane explains that she was pushed to drink alcohol several times and very insistently. Games, sometimes of a sexual nature, in which she never wanted to take part despite the pressure put on her shoulders.
Complaints follow each other, look alike, and make the studio’s case worse
It hasn’t even been a year since the harassment cases went public, and Activision is already completely immersed in the complaints. And if they do not come from female employees because of the company’s sexist work environment, Activision can also count on its investors to denounce other serious facts, particularly in terms of crisis management.