It’s always nice to think that certain industries are “above harassment” or other things that have weighed down our world. But, sadly, that faith is rarely rewarded. The places and companies that should be the most “sound of mind” sometimes turn out to be the most corrupt or have some of the most hate-filled people around. For example, the video game industry is full of horror stories about the working conditions of certain places and the abuses made by those in power. And that says nothing about gamers themselves. But in the case of Activision Blizzard, they had an issue that was so grand that it resulted in several lawsuits, and those suits keep on coming.
For those who don’t recall the initial lawsuit, after a two-year investigation, a suit was filed in 2021 that claimed Activision Blizzard created a “frat boy culture” that allowed the men of the company, especially men in power, to do basically whatever they wanted to the female employees of the company without consequence. Furthermore, the company’s women weren’t paid nearly as much as the men and didn’t get many promotion considerations.
The company CEO, Bobby Kotick, became infamous during this time for not only letting this happen but trying to deny it. He even told the board of directors that he was “unaware” of the claims, but it was revealed that he had evidence of these issues and simply “hid them” from the board. He even kept one person from being fired despite serious allegations and HR’s recommendation to fire them. Not cool.
The irony is that while a settlement was reached, it was only for the pay disparity, and Bobby Kotick got to continue being CEO until the buyout from Microsoft was complete.
That brings us to now, where another lawsuit, as noticed by Law 360, has been filed against Activision Blizzard and, specifically, Bobby Kotick. The person who filed it was a former executive who had been with the company for almost a decade before being laid off in a “restructuring” attempt.
In his lawsuit, he noted that Kotick stated during a conference with other staff that “there are too many old white guys.” That’s hilarious because Bobby Kotick is, in fact, an “old white guy.”
When those statements were made, two of the “older” executives left in protest, and when they recommended their replacements, one of which was the plaintiff for the suit, they were ignored, and younger men were put in their place.
If this lawsuit advances, it’s yet more proof that not everything is “good and fair” in the game industry.
