Activision Blizzard is facing a toxic workplace lawsuit in California

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Activision Blizzard has found itself the target of a pretty serious lawsuit in California. The Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) in California has filed a suit against Activision Blizzard over claims that the company perpetuates a “frat boy” lifestyle that ultimately leads to sexual harassment and misconduct in the workplace.

The DFEH suit claims that Activision Blizzard is guilty of workplace discrimination that leads to women receiving less compensation than their male counterparts. The suit also claims that, because of this discrimination, women are subject to harassment and unwanted advancements from male employees.

Activision Blizzard has developed into one of the biggest companies in gaming, with more than $8 billion in revenue last year. The company is responsible for some of the biggest video games and franchises out there, including Call of Duty and World of Warcraft.

Despite this success, the company has not done enough to make its workplace a safe and fair environment for all of its employees, according to this new lawsuit.

The lawsuit details several issues with the Activision Blizzard workplace environment, including the very disturbing “cube crawls.” In these “cube crawls,” male employees would get really drunk and crawl around various cubicles groping female employees.

Another section of the suit tells how a female employee died by suicide during a company vacation, allegedly because of a toxic relationship with a male employee.

Activision Blizzard has responded to these accusations, claiming that they don’t resemble the company’s workplace:

“We value diversity and strive to foster a workplace that offers inclusivity for everyone. There is no place in our company or industry, or any industry, for sexual misconduct or harassment of any kind…The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past.”

Although Activision Blizzard is actively disputing these claims, the 29-page lawsuit is still a very serious matter. In addition to the claims of workplace harassment, the company is also accused of systemic discrimination, with only around 20% of its employees being women.

Of the 12 leadership positions held at the company only three are held by women, and the suit claims that these women are compensated much less than the men in similar positions.

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