Activision is facing yet another sexual harassment lawsuit by an ex-employee referred anonymously as “Jane Doe” to protect her identity. The lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court and alleges that the plaintiff experienced rampant sexism and gender discrimination at Activision under Bobby Kotick‘s watch.
Why this new Activision sexual harassment lawsuit asks for Bobby Kotick to be fired
As described in the lawsuit unveiled by Bloomberg Law, Jane Doe was a senior administrative assistant who answered to various executives in the IT department in 2017. However, during her employment, she alleges that while she faced sexual harassment and discrimination, she is just one of many:
“For years, Activision Blizzard’s open ‘frat boy’ environment fostered rampant sexism, harassment and discrimination with 700 reported incidents occurring under CEO Robert Kotick’s watch.”
Doe says that she was frequently invited to events where she was pressured to drink alcohol; in particular, “cube crawls” where she had to withstand numerous sexual comments as well as groping from male employees. She also alleges that any complaints she made concerning sexual advances and excessive drinking merely led to her supervisors running interference and saying that “it was just her leadership being nice and trying to be friends with her.”
Unfortunately, she says that not only were her concerns dismissed, but it caused retaliation from others within the company. In her efforts to leave the hostile work environment in the IT department, she was rejected from other open positions in the company. It was not until she complained in writing to then-president Allen J. Brack that she was able to accept a role in another department, though at a much lower salary decrease and a less prestigious title, she claims.
Doe hopes that this sexual harassment lawsuit will result in the firing of CEO Bobby Kotick and that there will be a court order that demands the company’s HR department has a frequent rotation to prevent conflicts of interest. She seeks relief for lost earnings and medical expenses, as well as a restraining order.
In other news, Microsoft has been hacked by the same group that attacked Nvidia and Samsung, and From Software has fixed the infinite death loop bug in Elden Ring with the latest patch.
