What just happened? This calendar week the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a complaint confronting Activision Blizzard for alleged employment discrimination and sexual harassment. Information technology is only the latest group within the United states government to do and so after the company was accused of being host to a "frat boy" culture this by summertime. On the same twenty-four hour period, Activision Blizzard reached an agreement on an $18 meg settlement.

The complaint alleges that employees within Activision Blizzard have been subject to employment and pay discrimination based on gender, pregnancy discrimination, and retaliation from the company for lament about these things.

"Employees were subjected sexual harassment that was severe or pervasive to alter the conditions of employment," the complaint reads. "The conduct was unwelcome and adversely afflicted the employees. The Defendants knew or should take known of the sexual harassment of the adversely affected employees."

The complaint goes on to say that the company failed to make changes in response to complaints. The EEOC started investigating Activision Blizzard in 2022, and the harassment allegedly began in 2022.

And then far this twelvemonth, Activision Blizzard has come under scrutiny from the California Section of Fair Employment and Housing, the Communications Workers of America, and the Securities and Substitution Commission based on these same allegations. Since then, the president of Blizzard has left the company. So did multiple Blizzard game designers and the company'due south master legal officer. These events may even be a factor in Blizzard's significant drop in actor numbers and popularity on Twitch.

Activision Blizzard appear its agreement with the committee on the aforementioned day that the EEOC filed the complaint. An investor press release said information technology would commit $18 million to compensating the victims and to initiatives that support women in the video game industry. The courts and the EEOC must approve those commitments.

On peak of that, Activision Blizzard said it would invest in training programs and software tools to help improve workplaces in the industry. It as well said it would aggrandize its performance review programs with an equal opportunity focus to prevent harassment. It plans to start oversight and assessments of its training programs, investigation policies, and disciplinary framework while sending such reviews to the board of directors and the EEOC.

"There is no place anywhere at our company for discrimination, harassment, or diff handling of any kind, and I am grateful to the employees who bravely shared their experiences," said Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick. "I am sorry that anyone had to feel inappropriate conduct, and I remain unwavering in my delivery to make Activision Blizzard one of the world's most inclusive, respected, and respectful workplaces."

Image credit: Raimond Spekking (CC By-SA 4.0)