Call of Duty and Overwatch publisher Activision Blizzard will pay a $54 million settlement to end the company’s long-running sex discrimination lawsuit.
Now owned by Microsoft after a lengthy acquisition period, Activision Blizzard has agreed to spend tens of millions to settle its discrimination lawsuit.
In the settlement, via WSJ, the company agreed to give $46.75 million to female employees who received unequal compensation and unequal promotion practices between 2015 and 2020. Alongside this, $9.125 million will be spent on attorney fees.
Activision’s settlement also includes the introduction of new steps at the company to ensure fair pay and promotion opportunities to female employees. However, the company has not been proven guilty of the allegations in court, despite settling.
The California Civil Rights Department explained that “no court or any independent investigation has substantiated… systemic or widespread sexual harassment at Activision Blizzard.” Furthermore, the claims that “Activision Blizzard senior executives ignored, condoned or tolerated a culture of systemic, harassment, retaliation or discrimination” have yet to be outright proven.
The CRD explains that CEO Bobby Kotic and the company’s board has not been proven of any wrongdoing. At the time of writing, the courts have yet to approve Activision Blizzard’s massive settlement.
“If approved by the court, this settlement agreement represents a major step forward and will bring direct relief to Activision Blizzard workers,” the CRD said. “At the California Civil Rights Department, we will continue to do our part to fight for the rights of our state’s residents.”
Alongside this, Activision released its own statement, saying: “We want our employees to know that, as the agreement specifies, we are committed to ensuring fair compensation and promotion policies and practices for all our employees, and we will continue our efforts regarding inclusion of qualified candidates from underrepresented communities in outreach, recruitment, and retention.”
Following the settlement, the California Civil Rights Department has “entirely withdraws its 2021 claims alleging widespread and systemic workplace harassment at Activision Blizzard.” This means that, officially, there will be no evidence of workplace harassment and sex discrimination at Activision Blizzard.
After its controversial lawsuit, Activision Blizzard has been acquired by Microsoft to create new incentives for the Xbox ecosystem. However, Microsoft is seemingly continuing a hands off approach on its management of the company, allowing it to make its own managerial decisions.