Since the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed suit against Activision Blizzard on July 21, further allegations of sexual misconduct and gender discrimination have been levied against the company and its employees. From pay disparities for female employees, men walking into workplace breastfeeding rooms, and a bombshell report detailing the inside of the so-called “Cosby Suite” at BlizzCon 2013, the past few weeks have shown a crisis occurring at one of the industry’s top game developers.
In this week’s episode of FTW, Imad is joined by labor and employment attorney, senior associate at Nixon Peabody LLP, and Esports Bar Association vice president Irene Scholl-Tatevosyan to discuss the evolving nature of Activision Blizzard’s response (0:55). The two discuss how the company is balancing morals and liability in the situation (03:33), how the DFEH getting involved could impact the games industry as a whole (09:15), and how individual elements of the case, like the “Cosby Suite,” should be looked at in a larger context (21:00).
Subscribe now: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Pocket Casts
