Activision pays $50 million to settle workplace discrimination lawsuit – Reuters
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Activision booth showcased at the E3 2017 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, California, USA on June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Blake
(Reuters) – Activision Blizzard will pay about $50 million to settle a 2021 lawsuit from California regulators that alleges the video game maker discriminated against female employees by denying them promotion opportunities and underpaying them.
The California Civil Rights Department (CRD) filed a lawsuit after a two-year investigation into allegations that the ‘Call of Duty’ studio repeatedly paid low wages, failed to promote female employees, and tolerated sexual harassment.
CRD will drop allegations of systemic sexual harassment under a settlement agreement seen by Reuters. The remaining allegations resolved by the settlement include that Activision discriminated against women by denying them opportunities for advancement and paying them less than men for performing substantially similar work, CRD said in a statement Friday.
Activision will take additional steps to ensure fair pay and promotion practices and provide financial relief to women who were employees or contractors in California between October 12, 2015 and December 31, 2020. It was approved by the court, a CRD statement said.
“In the settlement agreement, CRD explicitly acknowledges that no court or independent investigation has substantiated claims of systematic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:),” the video game maker said in a statement Friday. .
The company also said no investigation demonstrated that its board or chief executive officer acted inappropriately in addressing workplace misconduct.
Activision, acquired by Microsoft (NASDAQ:) for about $69 billion in October, agreed to pay up to $18 million in 2021 to settle a similar lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I did.
