Activision Blizzard settles discrimination lawsuit for $54 million
Activision Blizzard has reached an agreement with the California Civil Rights Department (CCRD) to pay $54 million to settle a sex discrimination lawsuit filed in 2021.
The details:
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, the publisher agreed with the CCRD in 2021 to settle the case after being accused of unequal pay and promotion practices based on sex between 2015 and 2020. The female claimants will receive up to $46.75 million, while $9.1 million will be used to cover attorney fees, though this has yet to be approved by the court at the time of writing.
With the settlement, the CCRD's case will be dropped, and Activision will continue to work to ensure employees are paid equally regardless of their identity. The CCRD also declared (via VentureBeat) that "no court or any independent investigation has substantiated any allegations [of] systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard" and that there is no evidence that "Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned or tolerated a culture of systemic, harassment, retaliation, or discrimination."
The lawsuit was just one of several cases of legal action taken against the company in 2021 after current and former employees claimed that the company's "frat boy" culture led to gender discrimination and harassment. The state of California sued Activision after numerous claims of inappropriate physical contact and verbal comments from male employees surfaced.
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