Another sexual harassment proceeding has been filed against Activision Blizzard. Entertainment lawyer Lisa Bloom’s law firm has filed a proceeding against Activision Blizzard on behalf of the plaintiff identified as “Jane Doe.” Jane Doe claims she was discriminated against sexual harassment while working for the company. The proceedings have nominated Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, three former Blizzard employees, two current employees, and “Does 1 to 25” as defendants.
Content warning: This story contains an explanation of sexual harassment.
Many of the proceedings are related to Mark Skorupa, one of the nominated defendants and a former Blizzard staff member who is now a Microsoft employee. Doe was hired as a Senior Administrative Assistant to support Skorupa and another Blizzard employee in the IT department. According to the proceedings, Skorupa made sexual comments and progress on Doe, including putting his hand on Doe’s lap at lunch on the first day. She gives her a long unwelcome hug.
Doe proceedings seek to show a recurring pattern of dismissal of complaints
Doe’s proceedings seek to show a recurring pattern of dismissal of complaints by both managers and HR. The company also retaliated against her for going to HR for sexual harassment complaints, and HR “rejected Doe’s sexual misconduct complaints. Her leadership is excellent and she wants to be friends with her. HR asked Doe to keep all of her problems, concerns, recordings, or emails to herself, which would be very damaging to Activision Blizzard. Because there is a possibility. “
The proceedings allege that Skorupa made many harmful comments on Doe, preventing the company from demoting Doe and taking other positions in the company she applied for. As an example, she interviewed her position, but the proceedings stated that the company hired an “unqualified receptionist” who was dismissed shortly after “because she was not eligible for that position.”
Doe eventually wrote to Blizzard’s former President J. Allen Black about harassment and retaliation, shortly afterwards, although “wages have dropped significantly”, she has taken up a new position. In this position, “Mr. Doe’s manager often set her to fail.”
The proceedings state that Doe talked about her experience at a press conference on December 8, saying that Doe could be a woman who calls herself “Christine” at a meeting hosted by Bloom that same day. is showing.
The proceedings themselves have more allegations, which can be read here or at the bottom of this article.
Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Activision Blizzard has been under close scrutiny of work culture since California filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company in July. The proceedings anonymously refer to an employee who committed suicide during the company’s withdrawal, and her parents subsequently filed their own proceedings against Activision Blizzard. According to the Washington Post, the family claims that sexual harassment was a “significant factor” leading to her death.
According to The Wall Street Journal’s Bomb Report, CEO Bobby Cotic was aware of allegations of sexual misconduct at the company, but he continues to play that role.
Microsoft, which plans to acquire Activision in a deal worth about $ 70 billion, declined to comment.
Updated to ET at 9:03 pm on March 24: Microsoft declined to comment.