Judge Denies Activision's Motion To Dismiss Temp Workers In Suit

SANTA MONICA, CA — The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing can move forward with the majority of the claims in its lawsuit alleging Activision Blizzard fosters a "frat boy" workplace culture in which men discriminate against and sexually harass women and "joke about rape," a judge ruled Tuesday.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Timothy Patrick Dillon said the department needs only clarify one cause of action -- for employment discrimination because of sex-termination -- and he gave it 20 days to file an amended complaint.

Santa Monica-based Activision Blizzard had sought to dismiss all 11 of the department's causes of action insofar as they apply to contingent and temporary workers, who were added as people deserving protection and representation during a previous revision of the complaint filed last Aug. 23, a month after the original suit was brought.

In their court papers in support of Tuesday's motion, Activision lawyers alleged that the department provided inadequate notice of its intent to represent contingent and temporary workers and that the agency was time-barred from doing so by law.

"Beyond the problems with the belated group scope expansion in the amendment, DFEH also failed to plead a time frame anywhere in the (first amended complaint) and thereby failed to identify who purportedly falls into the group of persons DFEH is seeking to represent," according to the Activision Blizzard lawyers' court papers.

The DFEH alleges that Activision Blizzard's male executives encouraged a "frat boy" workplace culture in which women -- representing only 20% of all company employees -- are paid less than men, often passed over for promotions and fired faster than males.

"Women and girls now make up almost half of gamers in America, but the gaming industry continues to cater to men, even in California," the DFEH suit states.

"Activision Blizzard's double-digit percentage growth, 10-figure annual revenues and recent diversity marketing campaigns have unfortunately changed little."

At the office, some female Activision Blizzard employees 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 suit alleges.

Male employees "proudly come into work hung over, 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 states.

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