Activision settles discrimination suit that prompted Microsoft takeover

The news: Gaming giant Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay over USD50 million ($74.65 million) to settle the lawsuit filed in 2021 that prompted Microsoft’s takeover of the company the following year.

The numbers: The settlement will require Activision Blizzard to pay approximately USD55 million to cover direct relief to workers and litigation costs. Approximately USD46 million of the total will go to a settlement fund dedicated to compensating workers.

The context: In 2021, The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) alleged that a number of Activision female employees worked in an environment that was akin to working in a “frat house”, which invariably involved male employees drinking and subjecting female employees and contingent or temporary workers to sexual harassment, with little to no repercussions for the male employees. As a product of this “frat boy” culture, women were subjected to numerous sexual comments and advances, groping and unwanted physical touching, and other forms of harassment.

Additionally, the CRD alleged that women were assigned lower pay and opportunity levels, while the company was also slower to promote and faster to terminate female employees.