Activision Blizzard is facing yet another sexual harassment lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed by a former employee, alleges that her supervisor engaged in "sexist and harassing behavior" toward her for years after she joined the company, threatening to lose her job if she refused to consent to sex, and even threatening to expose "compromising photographs" she had shared with him years earlier and alleges that Activision Blizzard management was aware of the situation but did nothing to address it.

The anonymous plaintiff first met and formed a "virtual friendship" with defendant Miguel Vega in 2009 or 2010, before he began working for Activision Blizzard. That friendship ended in 2011 when the plaintiff met her future husband, but in 2016 Vega supported her to work for the company as an independent contractor, which she was promoted to a full-time employee in 2020.

According to the lawsuit (opens in new tab) (via Vice (opens in new tab)), Vega touched the plaintiff's breasts "more than a dozen times," often tried to kiss her at work, and told her "one day you will" and "one day you will give in" whenever she rejected him. At the same time, he regularly "belittled and insulted" the plaintiff during meetings, describing her as "not giving a shit about opinions" and neglecting "work that even a monkey could do."

"Whenever Ms. Doe expressed to him that his comments deeply hurt her, he simply kicked her out for being too sensitive and said, 'This is what it's like to work for a company, to do a real job,'" the suit states.

The suit alleges that in 2017, the plaintiff filed a complaint through another manager, but Activision Blizzard took no action to stop Vega's behavior. His abusive behavior continued until his eventual termination in August 2021. Some particularly egregious examples cited in the lawsuit:

The lawsuit alleges that Vega implied to the plaintiff that he had a friend in upper management who would find a way to fire her if she reported him to HR. He also allegedly "often" threatened to reveal photos she shared with him shortly after they first met, and as recently as August 2021 said, "I may blackmail you with the pictures I have to get you to come stay with me and leave my husband." According to the suit, he repeatedly asked Vega to remove the photos, but she refused.

On August 23, 2021, things came to a head and the complainant, through another manager, filed another complaint against Vega. This time, action was taken: Vega was fired a week later, on September 1, 2021.

Activision Blizzard defended the timeliness of its response in a statement sent to the Daily Mail (opens in new tab). 'We take the concerns of all our employees seriously. When the complainant reported his concerns to Human Resources, we immediately initiated an investigation and Mr. Vega was terminated within 10 days." We have no tolerance for this type of misconduct."

The company has a history of "taking a very serious stand" against employees who are "not willing to take the time to speak out against the company.

However, the lawsuit accuses Activision Blizzard of failing to take "timely and appropriate corrective action" against Mr. Vega, presumably because the plaintiff's initial complaint against him was filed in 2017 and no action was taken as a result. Multiple counts are alleged against the company and Vega, jointly and severally, including sexual harassment, failure to prevent harassment, gender discrimination, sexual assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The plaintiffs are represented by Lisa Bloom, an attorney who called for Activision Blizzard's "Over $100 Million (open in new tab)" victim compensation fund in December 2021. Bloom stated on Twitter that she currently represents eight women who have filed sexual harassment claims against Activision Blizzard.

The lawsuit is the latest in a series of allegations of workplace misconduct (open in new tab) against Activision Blizzard, which began in July 2021 with a lawsuit filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing alleging discrimination and sexual harassment against women in the workplace. In June 2022, an internal investigation found no evidence of widespread misconduct (open in new tab) at the company, but earlier this month, the National Labor Relations Board revealed that the company had withheld pay raises (open in new tab) for some of its quality assurance employees in retaliation for their union organizing efforts

These efforts included.

These efforts are slowly but surely having an impact: in June, Activision Blizzard stopped opposing Raven Software's QA workers' unionization efforts and agreed to "negotiate in good faith (open in new tab)" with the Communications Workers of America, the parent organization of the Game Workers Alliance The two sides agreed to That same month, Microsoft (which is trying to buy Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion (open in new tab)) reached a "landmark agreement (open in new tab)" on union negotiations with the CWA, while Activision Blizzard shareholders rejected the board's recommendations and voted against the company's efforts to unionize over workplace abuse, harassment and discrimination. Activision Blizzard shareholders voted in favor of an annual report (open in new tab) on the status of the company's efforts against workplace abuse, harassment, and discrimination.