Activision Blizzard urges California court to dismiss DFEH lawsuit

Activision Blizzard has requested that a California court dismiss a lawsuit previously filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against the game company in July 2021. In a motion for summary adjudication (provided by Bloomberg Law) filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, Activision claimed that DFEH failed to properly investigate the claims leveraged against the company prior to filing suit last summer.

In the filing, the company outlined three steps that DFEH must take in order to file a lawsuit: It must fully investigate any claims identified, work to negotiate a resolution to any claims supported by the investigation, and then attempt to mediate a resolution to any unresolved claims. According to Activision, DFEH failed to carry out the last two steps, which the company claims should warrant the dismissal of the lawsuit.

“DFEH is not permitted to bring or maintain litigation under FEHA until it follows the steps described above, nor is this Court conferred with jurisdiction over such claims until the agency does so. The failure to follow statutory requirements compels dismissal under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (‘FEHA’),” read the filing.

According to the filing, DFEH and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) worked together on the investigation. The former was assigned to investigate gender discrimination claims, while the latter looked into claims pertaining to workplace harassment and related retaliation.

Activision claimed that within a day of EEOC — which began its investigation first — concluding its investigation, DFEH quickly moved to both complete its investigation and sue despite “earlier indications that it still needed a great deal of additional information to complete its investigation.” The company claimed this action was made as part of a “turf war” between the two agencies, and further claimed that DFEH’s actions “unfairly damaged” Activision’s reputation in the public eye.

A decision on whether the case will be dismissed has not yet been reached.

EEOC’s lawsuit against the company was previously settled in late March for $18 million, which is a comparatively paltry sum for a company that Microsoft is attempting to purchase for nearly $70 billion.

This is the latest development in what has been a long string of legal and organizational moves by Activision in the fallout of its sexual harassment scandal, which came to light last summer. Since the scandal went public, the company has attempted to regain public favor by converting contract employees to full-time, as well as creating new positions meant to promote a diverse workforce.

However, actions by company leaders seem to stand in direct opposition to Activision’s goal of cultivating a “welcoming, safe, and legally compliant workplace” as stated in the filing. Earlier this month, the company’s board urged shareholders to vote against issuing an annual report on workplace misconduct. Additionally, New York City officials recently moved to sue the company claiming that CEO Bobby Kotick — who is embroiled in quite a few controversies of his own — rushed the company’s merger with Xbox to escape liability stemming from the aforementioned allegations of workplace misconduct at the publisher.