Activision Blizzard lawsuit expands for QA and customer service contractors

Activision Blizzard is being sued by California following a two-year investigation from the state’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges years of discrimination and harassment at the company. Now, the suit is being expanded to cover contract workers – not just full-time employees – and the DFEH argues that Activision Blizzard further violated California law by destroying documents that would have aided the investigation.

The word ’employees’ has been changed to ‘workers’ throughout the document, as Axios reports. The suit now asks for equal employment opportunity projects to “exist for employees and contingent or temporary workers”.

This comes after a report from Polygon earlier this month, in which contracted QA and customer service workers at Activision Blizzard said they were “crushed” by toxic work conditions at the company. Axios separately provides quotes from other Activision Blizzard contractors. One says “We suffer from stress. We suffer physical ailments. We are overworked and underpaid across the board.”

The addition to the lawsuit also accuses Activision Blizzard of withholding information related to the DFEH investigation, including documents “related to compensation and pay equity analyses”. The DFEH says Activision Blizzard refused to provide those documents, “asserting that they did not exist or that they were privileged and confidential because attorneys were involved in the receipt of complaints and the investigations.”

The DFEH says Activision Blizzard has also failed to maintain records as required by California law, “including but not limited to documents related to investigations,” which “were shredded by human resources personnel”.

California turning up the heat on Activision Blizzard, as @Megan_Nicolett and I report. They filed an amended complaint against AB yesterday, adding temp workers to the people on whose behalf they’re suing.

Plus, an 11th cause of action https://t.co/NszBmPbCvP pic.twitter.com/eaMFk75eYj

— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) August 24, 2024

We’ve reached out to Activision Blizzard for comment, and will update with any response.

Activision Blizzard is facing a lawsuit filed in July by the state of California alleging years of discrimination and harassment. Since then, CEO Bobby Kotick has called the company’s initial response “tone deaf”, employees have staged a walkout, Blizzard president J Allen Brack has left, and the ABK Workers Alliance has demanded change at the company. The lawsuit is ongoing; follow the latest developments here.

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