Activision Blizzard's petition to dismiss gender discrimination lawsuit denied

Activision Blizzard has had an attempt to dismiss one of its gender discrimination lawsuits denied.

The lawsuit: It's one of a number of suits that Activision Blizzard has been subjected to in recent years.

• The California Civil Rights Department filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in July 2021 based on allegations of sexual harassment which human resources purportedly knew about but neglected to act upon.
  
• The suit also made headlines due to it also stating that women needed to work longer and harder for the same opportunities and salaries as their male counterparts.
• The Call of Duty publisher asked the trial court to dismiss the lawsuit but was denied, and then it asked the same of the Court of Appeal to no avail, according to the CRD.

The denial: The game publisher is looking to clear its name amid its prospective $68.7B acquisition by Microsoft.

• As per Axios, both sides of the battle are asking for the trial to be delayed. It was expected to get going in February 2023.
• "The Court of Appeal’s ruling allows the CRD to continue pursuing relief for the thousands of women in California who
  have suffered sex-based discrimination, harassment, and retaliation as Activision workers," said CRD Director Kevin Kish of the decision.
• It's worth noting that this is a separate suit from one filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. This was settled in September 2021 with Activision Blizzard launching an $18M fund to compensate employees.