Investor lawsuit against Activision Blizzard dropped over lack of evidence

NME

Activision Blizzard has dodged another bullet as a US District Judge has dismissed an investor lawsuit against the gaming company.

• READ MORE: What the hell has happened at Activision and why should you care?

Last August, a group of Activision Blizzard investors had filed a class action lawsuit against the gaming giant, soon after the California Department Of Fair Employment And Housing (DFEH) sued the company over issues with its workplace culture.

At the time, the Activision Blizzard investors claimed that the company had “made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose” a number of alleged issues, including discrimination, a “pervasive ‘frat boy’ workplace culture”, “unaddressed” complaints to HR and more.

Yesterday (April 21), the class action suit was dismissed by a US District Judge, who said that the lawsuit suffered from “a lack of particularity”, per gamesindustry.biz. However, the judge also noted that the investors will be able to revise and re-file their complaint within 30 days if the issues are addressed.

“To the extent plaintiffs allege that defendants must have known sexual harassment and discrimination were endemic by virtue of their respective positions at the company, the [first amended complaint] does not establish the requisite facts to support such a conclusion,” added the US District Judge.

In response to the decision, a Activision Blizzard spokesperson said: “We are pleased with the court’s ruling that plaintiffs failed to establish their claims.”

Activision Blizzard recently also settled another lawsuit with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for £13.7million, the company’s lawsuit with the DFEH continues.

The DFEH lawsuit alleges that Activision Blizzard has cultivated a “frat boy workplace culture” where women are “subject to numerous sexual comments and advances, groping and unwanted physical touching, and other forms of harassment”.

Earlier this month, a leading lawyer at the DFEH resigned and accused California governor Gavin Newsom and his office of meddling in the state’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard.

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