Over the course of Activision-Blizzard’s continued legal and federal scrutiny for its sexual harassment and discrimination issues, a strange wrinkle had developed. Readers will recall that California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, the agency originally behind the lawsuit, had objected to an $18M settlement the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had reached with Blizzard. The EEOH fired back, claiming ethics violations due to two of the lawyers working for the DFEH originally being a part of the EEOC’s federal case.
It all culminated in ActiBlizz seeking a pause in the DFEH lawsuit in order for company attorneys to investigate the EEOC’s claim. This past Friday, however, ActiBlizz saw its request for a pause denied by the Los Angeles County Court. The judge who rendered the decision, Judge Timothy Patrick Dillion, did not elaborate on his reasoning, but the ruling was made within less than a week.
To date, the suit filed by the EEOC is the only one that has been settled: ActiBlizz still faces an SEC investigation, a National Labor Relations Board lawsuit, and now the confirmed continuation of the DFEH lawsuit that kicked the whole thing off.
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