Employees of Activision Blizzard (WoW; Call of Duty, Candy Crush) have filed a lawsuit against the gaming company for allegedly suppressing their rights and preventing the formation of a union. The company is also still battling the lawsuit from the state of California concerning sexism.
What is the lawsuit about? The employees, with the help of a large union in America, have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (via nlrb.gov). This is an independent agency that enforces labor law in the United States.
In the complaint, the employees allege that they have been intimidated, monitored, and prevented from exercising their rights by the gaming company. According to the employees, who have gathered under the banner “ABetterABK” (A Better Activision Blizzard King), the following incidents have occurred in the last 6 months:
- Employees were threatened not to discuss salary, working hours, and working conditions, especially in relation to ongoing investigations
- Strict and excessive policies for social media usage have been implemented
- Employees have allegedly been threatened and disciplined for engaging in protected concerted activities
- Employees who engaged in protected concerted activities have allegedly been interrogated and monitored
So far, there has been no official response from Activision Blizzard regarding these allegations.
Management allegedly attempted to get rid of undesirable employees
What do the members of ABetterABK say? In a conversation with VICE.com, an employee spoke about the situation but wished to remain anonymous.
He complains that employees were informed by their supervisors that their performance did not meet expectations, even though they had actually been doing good work.
The employee suspects that Activision Blizzard’s management wants to get rid of undesirable employees in this way:
We think the management is trying to get rid of them because they are so open […]. We have already experienced retaliation.
Some employees are reportedly “completely silenced” or have left the company and even the entire gaming industry.
The employee group also stated on Twitter that they will create a precedent if the outcome is positive, stating that no employee in the USA can be intimidated when discussing a forced arbitration:
Activision Blizzard is already being sued for sexism
What other lawsuit is still ongoing? The “California Department of Fair Employment and Housing” had already filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard in July regarding the issue of sexism.
The state’s agency investigated Activision Blizzard for more than two years and filed the lawsuit after a failed arbitration. The company is accused of several things, including:
- Only white men hold top jobs
- Few women reach a top position and still earn less salary and bonuses than their male counterparts
- Activision Blizzard created a work culture similar to a fraternity
- Complaints from women regarding mistreatment went unanswered
Following the lawsuit, Blizzard’s president, J. Allen Brack, left the company. The head of the human resources department also departed.
In games like Overwatch and WoW, name changes have also been made. Names and references to employees who allegedly behaved poorly have been removed from the games.
Regarding the lawsuit and especially the reaction from Blizzard to it, MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski shared her opinion in July:
Activision Blizzard’s response to the sexism lawsuit was terribly wrong
