Activision Blizzard must once again face serious allegations. A former employee accuses the company of discriminating against him as an “old white man.”
What is the allegation? According to a lawsuit dated January 2, 2024, which is filed with the Superior Court of California in Los Angeles, former “Activision Blizzard” employee James Reid Venable accuses the company of discriminating against him because he is an “old white man.”
The indictment states:
The defendants of Activision retaliated and discriminated against the plaintiff by considering his age in the selection of the plaintiff for termination and retaliated against the plaintiff shortly after he filed a discrimination complaint with the company’s Human Resources Manager. The reason given by Activision for the termination is a pretext. The plaintiff has suffered economic damage and emotional distress due to Activision’s unlawful conduct.
Furthermore, former CEO of “Activision Blizzard” Bobby Kotick allegedly said at an executives’ conference that Activision Blizzard’s issue is that they have “too many old white men” and need to hire more young and differently colored people.
Shortly thereafter, two older, white employees reportedly left the company. One of them was Venable’s supervisor. However, he had still recommended Venable for a promotion before leaving the company. But instead of Venable, Activision promoted Jonathan Lee, a “substantially younger” and “non-white employee.”
The lawsuit is available to the New York news site Law360. The corresponding excerpts from the document can be seen here:
Only in December 2023 did Activision Blizzard pay $54 million to settle a lawsuit over gender discrimination.
The lawsuit filed in 2021 by the California Civil Rights Department” (short: CRD) against Activision Blizzard was based on the allegations by the US authority that the company would discriminate and treat women unequally.
Accordingly, women were reportedly paid less for the same jobs and the top positions in the company were primarily held by white men.
Additionally, women at Activision Blizzard were said to have been sexually harassed. However, former CEO Bobby Kotick denied this in a March 2023 interview and stated that investigations had been conducted and there was never a systemic problem with harassment:
CEO Kotick (60) says: Activision Blizzard never had a sexism problem – Blames evil activists
