Activision Blizzard has scored at least one more win in its myriad legal battles that spawned from the company’s culture of sexual harassment and discrimination, as a judge has ruled against the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing’s attempt to intervene in the $18M settlement that the US’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission agreed to with the game studio.
Readers will recall that the settlement in question was confirmed last September, with ActiBlizz saying it would create a fund to “compensate and make amends to eligible claimants” as well as divide any money not claimed between charities that “advance women in the video game industry or promote awareness around harassment and gender equality issues as well as company diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives.” The settlement was derided by union organizers as a “slap in the face,” as Activision Blizzard was valued at $72B at the time.
Ultimately, the judge’s decision notes that the DFEH “has never clearly enunciated what advantage it seeks to gain by its participation as a formal party” to intervene in the settlement’s forward movement, and that any relief sought by eligible victims “will not happen for some time even if the settlement is otherwise appropriate and beneficial […] if the stay goes into effect.” The decision finalizes a ruling made in December, though the DFEH still has an appeal in that decision pending.
Meanwhile, another voice has joined in the admonishment of ActiBlizz, as Kinda Funny co-founder Greg Miller took his time on the DICE Awards Show stage to simply say “Fuck Bobby Kotick” at the end of his monologue – a statement that was met with cheers and applause from the show audience.
