An Activision Blizzard shareholder on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the video games publisher, roiled over the past two weeks by a state investigati

Activision Blizzard shareholder sues company over sex harassment crisis

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2021-08-07 00:00:05

An Activision Blizzard shareholder on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against the video games publisher, roiled over the past two weeks by a state investigation into alleged workplace harassment. The suit, which seeks class action status, says the negligent oversight of chief executive Bobby Kotick and other corporate leaders caused the company’s share price to lose substantial value.

California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing announced July 22 that it had filed suit against Activision Blizzard over a years-long pattern of workplace discrimination, harassment, and “frat boy” culture to which female employees were subjected.

In the 11 days since, statements from Kotick and corporate leadership have done little to help the company’s image. On July 26, 800 employees wrote a public letter to Activision Blizzard’s officers, calling their response to the California suit “abhorrent and insulting.” That referenced the initial reaction from Fran Townsend, the company’s chief compliance officer, who called the state’s complaint “truly meritless and irresponsible” in an internal memo.

On July 27, thousands of employees signed an open letter supporting the California DFEH action against their company, and followed that by walking off the job in protest on July 28. Activision Blizzard’s share price lost $6.09 (about 6.7%) on July 27, the same day Kotick released a letter to employees that apologized for the company’s “tone deaf” response to the crisis.