Another sexual harassment lawsuit was filed against Activision Blizzard. Lisa Bloom's law firm filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard on behalf of a plaintiff identified as "Jane Doe." Jane Doe claims she was sexually harassed and discriminated against while working for the company. The defendants in the lawsuit are Activision Blizzard, Blizzard Entertainment, three former Blizzard employees, and two current employees.
Content warning: This story contains statements of sexual harassment.
Most of the allegations in the case involve one of the named defendants, a former Blizzard employee and a current Microsoft employee, Mark Skorupa. Doe was hired as a senior administrative assistant to support Skorupa and another Blizzard employee in the IT department, and according to the lawsuit, Skorupa unsolicited Doe, including placing her hand on Doe's lap during a luncheon on Doe's first day. He made sexual comments and advances towards her by hugging .
Doe's case has been repeatedly dismissed by both executives and Human Resources. He also alleges that the company retaliated against him for going to Human Resources with sexual harassment complaints and that Human Resources “rejected Ms. Human Resources asked Ms. Doe to keep all her problems, concerns, records or emails to herself as it could do so much harm to Activision Blizzard.
The lawsuit alleges that Skorupa made a series of hurtful comments against Doe, the company demoting Doe and preventing him from taking other positions at the company he applied for.
The lawsuit states that Doe spoke about her experiences at a press conference on Dec. 8, and that Doe is likely the woman who identified herself as “Christine” at a conference hosted by Bloom that same day.
Activision Blizzard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Activision Blizzard has come under intense scrutiny for workplace culture since the state of California filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the company in July. This lawsuit anonymously referred to an employee who committed suicide, and his family has since filed their own lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. According to The Washington Post, the family claims that sexual harassment was a "significant factor" leading to his death.
Bombshell, in a Wall Street Journal report, alleged that CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of allegations of sexual misconduct at the company, but he himself remained in the position.
Microsoft, which plans to buy Activision in a deal for approximately $70 billion, declined to comment.