Activision Blizzard Accused of Destroying Incriminating Documents
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is accusing Activision Blizzard of destroying documents related to instances of harassment and mobbing at the company.
- The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has updated its lawsuit against Activision;
- The publisher is now accused of destroying documents relating to instances of mobbing and sexual harassment at the company;
- The law firm hired by Activision is alleged to have obstructed contact with the publisher's employees.
The sexual harassment and mobbing scandal at Activision Blizzard has been in the news a lot lately. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has updated its lawsuit on the matter, accusing the publisher of actions that impede the investigation.
The new allegations are serious. Activision is accused of destroying documents - both paper and electronic - about harassment and mobbing instances at the company. The publisher allegedly failed to comply with a law requiring it to keep such records for two years, as well as ignoring a memo from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing ordering their archiving. According to an update in the lawsuit, the company's HR department is currently busy running all paper complaints through shredders, and standard practice at Activision is to delete emails 30 days after an employee is fired.
The lawsuit update also includes allegations that Activision's hired law firm, WilmerHale, is obstructing the investigation. Its involvement in the dispute was already controversial, as it specializes in neutralizing attempts to form unions. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing claims that the lawyers are doing what they can to prevent talks with the publisher's employees.
One must admit that the way to do this is quite clever. WilmerHale representatives are holding meetings with people employed by Activision. They are presented as consultations on problems in the company, but they are treated as confidential conversations with attorneys, thus covered by attorney-client privilege.
Gamasutra editors asked Activision representatives for comment, but in response they received only a statement full of examples of what changes have been made in the company to avoid future cases of mobbing and harassment. The publisher did not address allegations of obstructing the investigation.
