Activision Blizzard Accused Of ‘Frat Boy’ Workplace, Harassment

SANTA MONICA, CA — Activision Blizzard, the Santa Monica-based video game company, is accused of having a ‘frat boy’ workplace that discriminates against and harasses women, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing said in a lawsuit filed this week.

“Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engage in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies, and joke about rape," the suit says.

The lawsuit comes after a two-year investigation by the DFEH, and also accuses Activision Blizzard of discriminating against female employees by paying women less than male counterparts and withholding promotions.

The video game company produces several popular games, including Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Guitar Hero and Candy Crush Saga, and is one of the world’s largest video game companies. The company’s subsidiaries, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc., and Activision Publishing, Inc., were named in the suit along with Activision Blizzard, Inc.

Activision Blizzard has about 9,500 employees and more than 100 million players worldwide, but just 20% of its workforce is female, the lawsuit said.

On behalf of the state’s public interest and the company’s female employees, DFEH’s lawsuit seeks relief and a trial by jury for sex discrimination in terms and condition of employment, unlawful sexual harassment, retaliation, failure to prevent discrimination, harassment and retaliation, and unequal pay.

HARASSMENT

The suit claims that Activision Blizzard fostered a ‘frat boy’ work culture that contributed to the harassment and discrimination of female employees.

"Female employees almost universally confirmed that working for Defendants was akin to working in a frat house, which invariably involved male employees drinking and subjecting female employees to sexual harassment with no repercussion,” the suit says.

It says women are subjected to constant sexual harassment, unwanted sexual comments and advances, derogatory comments about rape and being groped in the office and at company events.

“In the office, women are subjected to 'cube crawls' in which male employees drink copious amounts of alcohol as they 'crawl' their way through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees,” the document claims.

In one example, the lawsuit says a female employee committed suicide during a business trip with a male supervisor who had brought butt plugs and lubricant with him. Prior to her death, the suit alleges that male co-workers at a holiday party passed around a picture of the woman’s vagina.

FAILURE TO RESOLVE

According to the DFEH, derogatory behavior toward women was known to supervisors and encouraged by them. The DFEH points out a failure to take corrective action, despite that Activision Blizzard’s human resources and executives were told of complaints about harassment, discrimination and retaliation.

The suit names former Senior Creative Director of World of Warcraft Alex Afrasiabi as an example, who would hit on female employees at a company event. Employees nicknamed Afrasiabi’s suite the “Cosby Suite,” after alleged rapist Bill Cosby. Activision Blizzard president J. Allen Brack allegedly had a conversation with Afrasiabi about drinking and being too friendly with female employees, but did not issue any further discipline besides verbal counseling.

The lawsuit also says that the company’s former Chief Technology Officer was observed groping female employees at company events, and was known for making hiring decisions based on female applicants’ looks.

Female employees who complained were subject to retaliation, deprived of work on projects, unwillingly transferred to different units and selected for layoffs, the suit says.

Because of the failure to remedy the issues, an investigation into the company’s human resources department found a “big lack of trust,” and “HR not held in high regard.”

According to the suit, the department attempted to resolve the matter without litigation, but mediation sessions were unable to resolve the complaints.

DISCRIMINATION

Women at Activision Blizzard also faced discrimination and unequal pay, the lawsuit says.

The company’s CEO and president roles have always been held by white men, the lawsuit points out. Women seldom achieve top leadership roles at the company and are compensated less than male peers.

Female employees receive significantly lower starting pay and earn less than men for similar work, and are promoted less frequently and terminated faster, the lawsuit says.

The suit gives multiple examples of female employees who were passed over for a promotion despite exceeding their job descriptions, with male employees with less experience and time at the company being given opportunities and promotions ahead of them.

"A newly promoted male supervisor delegated his responsibilities to his now female subordinates in favor of playing Call of Duty,” the suit says.

Despite their lack of experience, some male employees were promoted because they were friends with the male head of unit, or were given special responsibilities and connections that female employees were not, the documents say. Meanwhile, the lawsuit gives an example of one female employee who said her manager responded to a request for a promotion with concerns that she would get pregnant and “like being a mom too much.”

According to the report, male employees would spend hours playing video games without supervision, while female employees were given negative evaluations while out on maternity leave, criticized for leaving to pick children up from daycare, or kicked out of the lactation room so employees could use the room for meetings.

RESPONSES

Activision Blizzard has denied the claims in the lawsuit.

Frances Townsend, Activision Blizzard’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, sent an email to employees on Friday regarding the lawsuit, Forbes writer Paul Tassi tweeted.

"A recently filed lawsuit presented a distorted and untrue picture of our company, including factually incorrect, old and out of context stories - some from more than a decade ago," a photo containing Townsend’s message reads.

this was sent to Activision employees by CCO Frances Townsend today

lot of doubling down on theme of "We are not bad, we are good, actually." pic.twitter.com/ojDnktfLI4
— Paul Tassi (@PaulTassi) July" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/PaulTassi/... 23, 2021

Townsend called the lawsuit “truly meritless and irresponsible,” saying “I am proud to be part of a company that takes a hard-line approach to inappropriate or hostile word environments and sexual harassment issues."

Activision Blizzard President J. Allen Brack, who was accused of knowingly allowing the harassment and discrimination detailed in the lawsuit, also emailed employees, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier tweeted.

"The allegations and hurt of current and former employees are extremely troubling,” Brack said. “While I can't comment on the specifics of the case as it's an open investigation, what I can say is that the behavior detailed in the allegations is completely unacceptable.”

Blizzard president J. Allen Brack sent out an email to staff last night addressing the allegations from this week's explosive lawsuit, calling them "extremely troubling" and saying that he'd be "meeting with many of you to answer questions and discuss how we can move forward." pic.twitter.com/NsMV6CNdTE
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/jasonschre... 23, 2021

A company spokesperson also told CBS MoneyWatch the lawsuit’s allegations are outdated.
"The picture the [DFEH] paints is not the Blizzard workplace of today," a company spokesperson said in a statement to CBS MoneyWatch, adding, "we've made significant changes to address company culture and reflect more diversity within our leadership teams."

The spokesperson also criticized DFEH for not approaching the company to discuss the issues, and said the department was insensitive for referencing the death of the female employee who committed suicide during a company trip.

"We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the [DFEH] to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family," the spokesperson said.

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