Activision Blizzard has been the subject of much controversy over the past few years. The company finally settled last year after "numerous complaints of illegal harassment, discrimination, and retaliation" and details of its "frat boy" culture, as well as claims by former CEO Bobby Kotick that it was nothing more than an "aggressive labor movement," were made public in a lawsuit.

The civil rights lawsuit concluded that there was "no pattern or practice of pervasive or recurring gender harassment," but Activision Blizzard still paid $54 million to the California Department of Civil Rights and $47 million to affected employees. The company has accumulated the money. And now a new lawsuit has been filed by a former employee. Wait a minute. [As reported by Law360 (thanks to GamesIndustry.biz), the plaintiff (a 57-year-old technology executive who worked under Kotick for several years) claims the company discriminated against him because of his age. The lawsuit mentions a meeting at which Kotick allegedly joked that there were "too many old white people." It then states that two other white co-workers resigned due to "age discriminatory remarks."

Later, one of the retired coworkers recommended plaintiff as his replacement, but the lawsuit alleges that a non-white employee became his supervisor instead, and that plaintiff's "merit-based" pay raise was the lowest ever at the company because that supervisor was so critical of plaintiff's work.

Plaintiff also states that when a female co-worker complained to HR about her pay raise, she made disparaging remarks about plaintiff to both HR and her supervisor. Plaintiff says that she filed her own complaint requesting that the said statements be independently investigated, but that she was "ignored and not taken seriously."

In August 2023, Plaintiff and six co-workers over the age of 47 were terminated (from a workforce of approximately 200 employees). Plaintiffs allege that Activision Blizzard "put profits before people by firing older, higher-paid executives...2023 was an absolutely brutal year of layoffs throughout the tech and gaming industries."

GamesIndustry.biz reports that the plaintiffs are seeking damages to assist with "loss of income, adverse impact on career advancement, reputational damage, emotional distress, wrongful termination, and legal fees."

Activision Blizzard's equal employment opportunity policy states that it is the company's policy to "recruit, hire, train, and promote" the "most qualified individuals" regardless of the age issue raised by the plaintiffs.