Activision Blizzard has been hit with yet another sexual harassment complaint. Activision Blizzard was sued by the legal office of entertainment lawyer Lisa Bloom on behalf of a client named “Jane Doe.” While working at the corporation, Jane Doe claims she was subjected to sexual harassment and discrimination. Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, three former Blizzard employees, two current Blizzard employees, and “Does 1 through 25” are named as defendants in the lawsuit.
Many of the charges in the complaint center on Mark Skorupa, a former Blizzard employee who is now a Microsoft employee and one of the listed defendants. Doe was employed as a senior administrative assistant to help Skorupa and another Blizzard employee in the IT department, and the complaint claims that Skorupa made sexual advances toward her, including laying his hand on her lap at a lunch on her first day and giving her extended, unwanted embraces.
Doe’s lawsuit tries to establish a pattern of complaints being dismissed by both management and HR. It also claims that the firm retaliated against her when she filed a sexual harassment complaint with HR, and that HR “dismissed Ms. Doe’s sexual misconduct charges, claiming that it was simply her leadership being kind and wanting to be friends with her.” Ms. Doe was told by HR to keep all of her concerns, recordings, and emails to herself because they may be highly detrimental to Activision Blizzard.”
According to the lawsuit, Skorupa made a series of nasty comments about Doe, and the firm demoted her and prevented her from applying for other positions at the company. In one case, she interviewed for a position, but according to the complaint, the firm chose a “less-qualified receptionist” who was fired soon after “because she was not qualified for the position.”
After writing to former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack about the harassment and retribution, Doe was given a new job, albeit one with “a considerable loss in income.” “Ms. Doe’s management regularly set her up to fail” in this role.
According to the lawsuit, Doe spoke about her experiences in a press conference on December 8th, implying that she is the lady who identified herself as “Christine” at a Bloom conference that same day.
More claims may be found in the complaint, which you can read here or at the bottom of this page.
A request for comment from Activision Blizzard was not immediately returned. Since the state of California filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the corporation in July, Activision Blizzard has been under increasing scrutiny for its working culture. The employee who committed herself on a work retreat was mentioned in that case, and her parents have subsequently filed their own lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. According to The Washington Post, her family claims that sexual harassment was a “major role” in her death.
A shocking revelation, According to a Wall Street Journal story, CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of sexual misconduct charges at the business yet continued in his position.