Activision settles another workplace suit for $35 million

Videogame maker Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay $35 million to settle federal regulatory charges that it failed to collect and respond to employee complaints of workplace misconduct and violated a federal whistleblower protection rule.

The settlement announced Friday by the Securities and Exchange Commission comes after the troubled Santa Monica, California-based gaming company settled with U.S. workplace regulators in 2021 over employee complaints about sexual harassment. Workers then also accused the company of discriminating against employees who were pregnant and retaliating against employees who spoke out, including firing them.

In that settlement, the maker of Candy Crush, Call of Duty, Overwatch and World of Warcraft agreed to create an $18 million fund to compensate people who were harassed or discriminated against. Money left over would go to charities for women in the video game industry or other gender equity measures. Activision also agreed to strengthen its policies and training on harassment and discrimination and hire an independent consultant to oversee its compliance with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s conditions.

One month before that, in August of 2021, the company announced that its president, J. Allen Brack, was stepping down after the company was hit with a discrimination and sexual harassment lawsuit in California. California’s civil rights agency sued the Santa Monica-based company in July of 2021, citing a “frat boy” culture that had become a “breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women.”

Activision shares fell about 1.5%, to $76 in morning trading on Friday. They hovered near $100 in the weeks leading up to the flurry of workplace misconduct charges in the summer of 2021.

Just over a year ago, Microsoft said it was paying a hefty $68.7 billion for Activision, but the deal is being held up by regulators in the U.S. and Europe over anti-competitive concerns.