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Activision Blizzard’s hurricane of shit continues to spin, as it emerges that the company’s investors have now filed a class action complaint against them. This new lawsuit claims that Activision Blizzard neglected to tell shareholders about the investigation into their alleged toxic work environment, leading them to be “economically damaged.” The investigation, which was carried out by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), led to them suing Activision Blizzard in July over an alleged culture of sexual harassment and discrimination.
You can read the new lawsuit in full via Ars Technica. Essentially, shareholders are claiming they’ve suffered losses as a result of Activision Blizzard’s share prices dropping after the DFEH’s lawsuit was made public.
The filing also alleges that the company made “false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose” a variety of things involved in the DFEH case. For example, the new lawsuit claims Activision Blizzard didn’t tell investors they had allegedly “discriminated against women and minority employees” or “fostered a pervasive ‘frat boy’ workplace culture that continues to thrive”. They also claim that ActiBliz simply didn’t tell shareholders that the DFEH had been investigating them for two years.
Here’s the official line from the suit:
“As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s common shares, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages.”
Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, CFO Dennis Durkin, and former CFO Spencer Neumann are all named in the suit, with claims that they were “aware of or recklessly disregarded the fact that the false and misleading statements were being issued concerning the company.”
It goes so far as to mention events that have taken place since the DFEH’s lawsuit was filed, including the letter signed by thousands of current and former Activision Blizzard employees condemning the company’s “abhorrent and insulting” response, and the walkout that took place in protest of the working conditions last week.
The Rosen Law Firm in LA are seeking damages on behalf of the affected investors, and are demanding a trial by jury.
Elsewhere in Activision Blizzard news, now-former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack left the company yesterday, along with HR executive Jesse Meschuk.
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