Getting drunk and molesting women: Activision Blizzard sued for sexual harassment

DFEH, California’s department defending workers’ rights, sued Activision Blizzard. According to the lawsuit, the corporation has a thriving culture of “college fraternity” that infringes on women’s rights. The organization came to this conclusion after two years of studying the inner workings of the company.

• The lawsuit alleges that women, who make up about 20 percent of the state, are routinely sexually harassed. Men openly joked about sexual partners and rape, “delegating tasks to women while spending time playing video games.”
• There have been known cases of so-called “staggering cubicles,” where employees would get drunk and walk around the offices molesting women;
• Women were denied promotions because of the possibility of getting pregnant and going on maternity leave. According to the department, some female employees were criticized for needing to leave work to pick up their child from daycare;
• Women were reportedly kicked out of nursing rooms to hold a meeting there;
• The lawsuit noted the case of a female employee who killed herself while on a business trip with her boss, who took a sex toy on the trip. Previously, a woman was sexually harassed at a party when her coworkers showed each other a picture of her genitals;
• Authorities say developer Alex Afrasiabi, who was behind World of Warcraft, was also implicated in harassment, but the company left it unpunished.

The department is trying to get fair pay for the female employees of the corporation as well as respect for their rights.

In response, Activision Blizzard released a lengthy statement denying accusations of sexist culture and calling the investigation “distorted and in many cases false”.