Law Activision Blizzard to pay roughly $50 million in discrimination case settlement

[Arkain2K]

Activision Blizzard to pay roughly $50 million in California discrimination case settlement​

BY SARAH PARVINI, CHRISTI CARRAS | DEC. 15, 2023

Activision Blizzard and California’s Civil Rights Department have reached a roughly $50-million settlement agreement to resolve a sexual harassment and discrimination case against the gaming giant, the Los Angeles Times confirmed Friday.

The Civil Rights Department sued the Santa Monica-based “Call of Duty” maker in 2021, alleging that women at the company were regularly subjected to sexual harassment, paid less, denied promotions and met with retaliation when they raised concerns with managers.

Activision Blizzard has long denied those claims.

A copy of the settlement — signed by both parties and reviewed by The Times — states that “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations that: there has been systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard,” or that “Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned, or tolerated a culture of systemic,h arassment, retaliation, or discrimination.”

As part of the agreement, Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay up to $46.75 million, which will be used to compensate women who worked for the company in California from Oct. 12, 2015, to Dec. 31, 2020.

The company also agreed to pay $9.1 million to cover the Civil Rights Department’s attorneys fees and costs.

Activision Blizzard to pay roughly $50 million in California discrimination case settlement

The Santa Monica-based "Call of Duty" game maker was sued by California’s Civil Rights Department in 2021 for alleged sexual harassment and discrimination.

www.latimes.com

 

[Natural Order]

50 million from a company that made 7.5 billion in 2022. I'm sure it stings deep!

 

[Fluffernutter]

Will the DOD marketing office subsidize the check?

 

[PBAC]

And this is why gender studies is a thing

 

[HereticBD]

Uh-oh, they're gonna have to roll some loose change together for that one.

 

[LeonardoBjj]

- Activision deserved. They made Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and now are more know for some boring shooting game!

 

[Gref]

Bobby the God got out with the bag just in time.

 

[djacobox372]

What if you're a man that identifies as a woman who worked at Activision at the time? Do you get $$ as well?

Asking for a friend.

I'd like to see male nurses and grade-school staff sue their workplaces for the same sort of stuff.. I'm sure they've had similar, if not worse experiences in their female dominated fields.

 

[Hog-train]

If I was one of these companies, TBH I wouldn't even hire female staff. They make the games worse IMO - constantly trying to interject social politics into games, make them more politically correct and also do self inserts of their unattractive selves into the games.

 

[avenue94]

If I was one of these companies, TBH I wouldn't even hire female staff. They make the games worse IMO - constantly trying to interject social politics into games, make them more politically correct and also do self inserts of their unattractive selves into the games.

Yeah, I can see no way that hiring with this logic would not get a company taken to the cleaners. Nope, no way this line of thinking ends badly, it's totally not incel logic or anything.

 

[Hog-train]

Yeah, I can see no way that hiring with this logic would not get a company taken to the cleaners. Nope, no way this line of thinking ends badly, it's totally not incel logic or anything.

You would have to prove it was a company wide policy.

 

[avenue94]

You would have to prove it was a company wide policy.

Why would I have to prove that hiring ladies makes for worse games? You're the one making an extraordinary claim with no evidence. Is there any evidence that female STEM majors or writing majors are on average less intelligent or knowledgeable of their fields than men?

Are we really saying hiring more ladies led to a decline in Call of Duty quality?

 

[Hog-train]

Why would I have to prove that hiring ladies makes for worse games? You're the one making an extraordinary claim with no evidence. Is there any evidence that female STEM majors or writing majors are on average less intelligent or knowledgeable of their fields than men?

Are we really saying hiring more ladies led to a decline in Call of Duty quality?

I'm referring to your statement that the hypothetical company would get taken to the cleaners. I'm saying for any potential lawsuit to gain traction, they would need to prove it was a company wide policy to only hire male devs.

And who the hell said female STEM or writing majors are less intelligent. WTF are you talking about - I never claimed that and complete non sequitur.

I'm saying in my opinion, female devs make a lot of games worse by injecting political woke agenda into games. You're free to disagree, but that's my take.

 

[DiddlyDoodly]

If I was one of these companies, TBH I wouldn't even hire female staff. They make the games worse IMO - constantly trying to interject social politics into games, make them more politically correct and also do self inserts of their unattractive selves into the games.

Agree 100%

 

[Flower2dPeople]

You would have to prove it was a company wide policy.

You could have your best programmer/designer go head to head with a person you don't want to hire. Record it. Make it seem you're transparent.

 

[avenue94]

I'm referring to your statement that the hypothetical company would get taken to the cleaners. I'm saying for any potential lawsuit to gain traction, they would need to prove it was a company wide policy to only hire male devs.

Ah yes, so you're proposing an employment policy that would never pass muster, then claiming that you're in the clear because even though you proposed a clearly illegal employment policy, it would have to be proven in court.

I'm saying in my opinion, female devs make a lot of games worse by injecting political woke agenda into games. You're free to disagree, but that's my take.

Again, where are the receipts. Is there some correlation between percent of female workforce and game quality? You're just spouting feelings cuz you're butthurt about a particular game it seems.

 

[Hog-train]

Again, where are the receipts. Is there some correlation between percent of female workforce and game quality? You're just spouting feelings cuz you're butthurt about a particular game it seems.

How am I going to provide receipts for an opinion? I don't take gaming that seriously where I'm going to get "butthurt" over a particular game. Don't care - just my observations.

It's also my opinion that employees with "pronouns" are more entitled, lazy and cause more problems. But there are no empirical studies that "prove" this. It's just my anecdotal observation from working with them.

 

[avenue94]

How am I going to provide receipts for an opinion? I don't take gaming that seriously where I'm going to get "butthurt" over a particular game. Don't care - just my observations.

And what is the evidence of these observations that female game devs are worse than males? Is it just vibes?

It's also my opinion that employees with "pronouns" are more entitled, lazy and cause more problems. But there are no empirical studies that "prove" this. It's just my anecdotal observation from working with them.

So it's bullshit, got it. I see you've never taken a stats class.

 

[Hog-train]

And what is the evidence of these observations that female game devs are worse than males? Is it just vibes?

So it's bullshit, got it. I see you've never taken a stats class.

Seems you're the one getting butthurt lol.

You keep asking me for "evidence" when I'm just stating my opinion. I'm noticing Western gaming studios making less attractive characters to cater to the feminist crowd. And sometimes I'm seeing blatant inserts of themselves by female devs into the games.

I see none of this in Asian gaming studios.

 

[Poon Goon]

You could have your best programmer/designer go head to head with a person you don't want to hire. Record it. Make it seem you're transparent.

You could find out where the undesirable applicant lives and set their car on fire before the interview. They don't show up for the interview then they are to blame by default.