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California sues Activision/Blizzard for employment discrimination because of sex, retaliation, discrimination & harassment, unequal pay
- Thread starter Seri
- Start date
- News Activision/Blizzard
I mean, I'm all for it.
We've been voicing our opinions since Ubisoft's case emerged too a while back, but nothing has been done on that and I doubt this will be any different. It was easy to ban a single game like Cyberpunk, but a whole major publishers like Ubisoft & Acti-Blizzard is another story since their games make conversations in Era. Just like what people often say in here, "It makes business sense" for Era to not ban them.
Blizzard did the same thing. Remember Blitzchung, and how Brack "apologized" on stage at Blizzcon, but never said what they were apologizing for, or plans for reverting the ban, and called he a "heated Hearthstone eSports moment" and then went "Okay now that that's out of the way, LOOK HERE'S DIABLO 4!"?
Well said.
My goodness.
Allegations of abuse surfaced last year and have been discussed intermittently on the site since then.
God, maybe I so glad I didn't fallen in love with Blizz stuff much especially. Shits just keeps coming up, and it is beyond frustrating.
*sigh* oh boy.
*sigh* oh boy.
I think looking at the kind of visibility Era gives to Activision Blizzard games is also a question of what kind of video game community do we want to promote?
I was talking to my partner about this news and she made the point that these behaviors are taught and learned much earlier in life, at home, at school, among friends, in online spaces. Activision Blizzard isn't directly responsible for that. But then this toxic, misogynistic abuse is tolerated and promoted internally, abusers are protected and promoted, victims are gaslit and pushed out. And when it's made public, laid bare for the rest of the video game community, how we respond in turn says something about us.
I was talking to my partner about this news and she made the point that these behaviors are taught and learned much earlier in life, at home, at school, among friends, in online spaces. Activision Blizzard isn't directly responsible for that. But then this toxic, misogynistic abuse is tolerated and promoted internally, abusers are protected and promoted, victims are gaslit and pushed out. And when it's made public, laid bare for the rest of the video game community, how we respond in turn says something about us.
Yeah, there is some serious company rot there. Just a lot of as they said frat boy mentality ranging from "harmless" pranks to outright sexual harassment (and worse). The constant gaslighting is like the consistent thread to all of these stories.
I remember at my work when a male snuck up behind a female working at her computer and grabbed her to scare her. She screamed and the guy was instantly taken into a side room and yelled at. He was never promoted and I'm pretty sure the only reason he wasn't fired is because the female kept saying it was fine.
At Blizzard that makes you a leader.
For real. Turning down the unqualified hype culture down a notch is a. hardly a tough intervention and b. arguably just generally for the better.
This is what happens when frat boys are promoted, hire other frat boys, and have no one in positions of power with the will or moral compass to hold them accountable for their terrible behaviors.
Management and HR just covered up the complaints and sexual harassment for years. Sickening. Can't do anything when the corruption runs that deep to protect the frat boys and gaslight or retaliate against the victims.
There was a time when I would have liked to work there years ago being a fan, but now, nah.
Don't give this shit company a single penny. Fuck them. I'm glad the women are speaking out.
There was a time when I would have liked to work there years ago being a fan, but now, nah.
Don't give this shit company a single penny. Fuck them. I'm glad the women are speaking out.
Completely revolting. The industry needs to be cleaned of these toxic scumbags from top to bottom. If as an adult you can't understand why you shouldn't be behaving like that then you don't deserve a job, and in some of these cases you don't deserve liberty. That the game industry still has some of these retrograde, frat-boy arseholes isn't a surprise, but at Activision they seem to be allowed free reign to terrorise anyone they want to with no hint of repercussion, it's probably even encouraged. It's not a difficult to decision to stop giving this company any money.
For what it's worth the news has broken beyond the enthusiast press (and Bloomberg Law) with a short article in the New York Times.
www.nytimes.com
There's nothing new in the article so don't bother if it's behind a paywall. I feel it's worth mentioning because higher profile general interest news items like this raise awareness which can lead to further consequences for the company, like shareholder pressure.
Activision Blizzard Is Sued by California Over Workplace Culture (Published 2021)
The lawsuit says women at the gaming company were paid less and discriminated against, and it described a culture of sexual harassment.
There's nothing new in the article so don't bother if it's behind a paywall. I feel it's worth mentioning because higher profile general interest news items like this raise awareness which can lead to further consequences for the company, like shareholder pressure.
GoodFor what it's worth the news has broken beyond the enthusiast press (and Bloomberg Law) with a short article in the New York Times.
Activision Blizzard Is Sued by California Over Workplace Culture (Published 2021)
The lawsuit says women at the gaming company were paid less and discriminated against, and it described a culture of sexual harassment.
There's nothing new in the article so don't bother if it's behind a paywall. I feel it's worth mentioning because higher profile general interest news items like this raise awareness which can lead to further consequences for the company, like shareholder pressure.
Oh gosh, sorry texh, I thought you were counselling that we not be "too hasty" as that's a slippery slope, my apologies. Alacrity in this affair I would say is very much warranted while it is still in the public eye, hopefully it would embolden more of the press to refuse to act as this piece of shit companies mouthpiece.
This has really upset me and affected me, as someone that has been bullied and gaslit to the point where I considered myself so worthless that it would be easier were I dead this has, affected me.
What people don't always understand about such workplace harassment is that the cumulative effect can be so hurtful and insidious. "Small" things designed to wear you down gradually over time, can nullify your defences to the bigger abuses and make you feel you "deserve" them to normalise them. Abusers know consciously or not exactly how to ride that line to give you just enough reinforcement so that you truly believe you are worthless when the negativity starts. Its relentless, I would be in tears on the way to work as I considered if it was going to be a "bad" day or not, if he was going to be there or not. I would hide from or skip lunch so that I had less chance of seeing him.
I have only been free of my abuser for 7 months and I still cry when I think of that time, my new work with wonderful colleagues are lovely and don't understand why I apologise so much for the smallest error, why I stay so quiet during team meetings why I feel the need to check everything so much. They do not understand why I lack confidence in myself and my abilities. I cry when they say "well done Cerys".
Slowly I am building myself back up though. I am lucky that I broke free and found somewhere with nice people.
Sorry rambly ramblings. Even now I am effected by such things, and a lot more I can't really allow myself to think about.
I wonder when they'll announce their next game or update, so that the gaming
press will talk about their products instead, just like with Ubisoft.
And yes, Acitivision Blizzard, that China obeying, tax evading and constantly workers firing shitcompany can burn in hell even more
press will talk about their products instead, just like with Ubisoft.
And yes, Acitivision Blizzard, that China obeying, tax evading and constantly workers firing shitcompany can burn in hell even more
And EA, and Microsoft, and Riot, and, and, and…
This is, unfortunately, an industry wide problem. It's hard to think of an organization where these situations aren't repeated.
On one hand, very little of that sort comes as a surprise in this industry but, on the other hand, I did think that Blizzard was among the more professionally managed studios.
Looks like I was very mistaken about that. How I hate this frat house behavior culture... Hope the company heads and managers suffer for it.
Looks like I was very mistaken about that. How I hate this frat house behavior culture... Hope the company heads and managers suffer for it.
Not a day goes by that this industry doesn't show just how unwelcoming they are to women, POC, and marginalized identities.
Oh yeah, If we as a community and ERA are happy not to hold them accountable for all that, for the mass redundancies while that stain of a human Kotic reaps more and more bonus money he could never spend, and finally this. Then frankly this place is no better than the old place, is no better than 8chan. Literally at what point does the media and enthusiast press decide "this is enough". ActiBlizz need places like here to propogate their hype a lot more than we need them. There are other games, other games made by companies who will not drive their staff to suicide.
❤️
even if it were a blanket ban on all their content (and not just hype / preview stuff) then I argue nothing of value would be lost.
And to seemingly take such pleasure in being so unwelcoming. :(
Oh no, not to worry about me. It should be me who should apologize since it looked like I was trying to handwave these issues in my previous post.
I'm sorry to hear your experience with abuse and harassment at your previous workplace. I'm happy for you to finally manage to break away from that. Things will only get better from here.
looks like we have a very good explanation for why afrasiabi quietly left last year...
although "bill crosby" is some sloppy work by the DFEH -- - you'd think between the three attorneys on the caption and at least one supervisor who reviewed the complaint, they'd catch this.
although "bill crosby" is some sloppy work by the DFEH -- - you'd think between the three attorneys on the caption and at least one supervisor who reviewed the complaint, they'd catch this.
It needed to be said. Nothing would be lost in a blanket ban on all content from Activision Blizzard; it's only a positive. My hopes aren't high though, so at least seeing hype and preview threads cut down would be a start.
Can't seem to post media on mobile
You don't need to apologize for any of this. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that and am happy to hear you're in a better place now.
Probably right about that one. Also, thanks for opening up about your own experiences. Couldn't have been easy. I'm glad you found a better work place. It really shouldn't be up to victims alone to effect change by sharing their history. Hopefully we'll see something shift meaningfully in the way discourse goes here and elsewhere that presupposes a degree of recognition of the context under which many games are made (and how widespread these issues are generally, in or outside of games).
Holy fucking shit, this is just... beyond evil. I don't think I can express how terrible this makes me feel. Harassment to the point of driving a person to suicide... it's incomprehensible.
I feel like shit just for buying the Crash Trilogy on Switch. Well, I know now I'm not buying anything from them anymore, and neither should anyone else. I really hope the lawsuit goes through and all the guilty parties pay for this.
I feel like shit just for buying the Crash Trilogy on Switch. Well, I know now I'm not buying anything from them anymore, and neither should anyone else. I really hope the lawsuit goes through and all the guilty parties pay for this.
And we wonder why gaming communities and online lobbies are so toxic?
They are a mirror image of the fuck that is going on at these companies
They are a mirror image of the fuck that is going on at these companies
Nah. I wish you were right, but J Allen will go on stage, flutter his eyelashes, admit "mistakes being made" in a solemn voice, promise improvements, and then they'll show some more Diablo 4 and the majority will quickly forget.
Not sure protesting Blizzard by giving your money to Jeff Bazos instead is that much of a win.
