There are articles that we would like to write less often, and this one is one of them. While a survey published yesterday by Kotaku brings shame on Ubisoft Singapore, Bloomberg reveals today that a complaint targets the Activision Blizzard group for similar facts.
Filed by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) after a two-year investigation, the complaint accuses the company of "discriminating against its employees on the basis of gender, retaliation, disability preventing discrimination and harassment, and unequal pay. »
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A corporate “bro culture”
Activision Blizzard cultivates an atmosphere of "college fraternity" in which female employees are subjected to ongoing sexual harassment, pay disparities, and the threat of retaliation if they object. Here are the conclusions of an investigation conducted for two years by the DFEH, and on which the complaint filed last Tuesday at the Court of Los Angeles is based.
Representing approximately 20% of the company's payroll, women are subject to various practices such as the "cube crawl", during which the men "drink huge quantities of alcohol while crawling towards the workstations of the office, and engaging in inappropriate behavior towards employees. »
Also in the company's open spaces, the government agency observed that men played video games during their working hours, and delegated their responsibilities to their female colleagues. All this while telling saucy jokes, or joking openly about rape.
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Women kicked out of nursing rooms for meetings
In addition to cases of targeted harassment, sexist comments and insistent flirting, the complaint is also based on the case of an employee, victim of revenge porn, who committed suicide during a company trip when she was accompanied by her stalker.
In general, we understand from reading the complaint that the culture of Activision Blizzard is such that it simply prevents the women who work there from feeling in their place, and from being able to claim high office. At equal evaluations, and even if her performance breaks the ceiling, an employee is systematically devalued compared to a male counterpart. In particular under the pretext “that they risk becoming pregnant”, reports Bloomberg.
Mothers also have trouble with Activision Blizzard. Mocked when they have to leave the office to pick up their children, they are also regularly evacuated from the breastfeeding rooms dedicated to them so that colleagues can organize meetings there.
Activision Blizzard has released a statement saying it takes any accusation very seriously to ensure inclusive workspaces. “There is no place in our company or our industry for sexually objectionable behavior or harassment of any kind. But the DFEH report includes distorted and, in many cases, false descriptions of Blizzard's past, the statement continues. We were extremely cooperative with the DFEH during their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and documentation, but they refused to inform us of the issues that were perceived. »
"The picture painted by the DFEH is not the Blizzard of today," the statement concluded.
