Serious allegations have been laid out against Governor Gavin Newsom related to California's ongoing discrimination lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. The allegations come from Melanie Proctor, a key lawyer involved in the Activision Blizzard lawsuit and assistant chief counsel for California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Proctor is resigning her position and accusing Governor Newsom of interfering with the lawsuit and that the interference mimicked "the interests of Activision's counsel."The catalyst for Proctor's resignation and allegations against Governor Newsom and the Office of the Governor is the firing of Chief Counsel Janette Wipper. Wipper resigned her position last month, but a representative has now confirmed she was fired. Proctor explains that Wipper was terminated from her role after she "attempted to protect" the department's independence as it pursued the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. This effort is described by Proctor to have directly led to Wipper's firing.Proctor's full allegations against Governor Newsom claim that he and his office "repeatedly demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of the next steps in the litigation" in regard to the Department of Fair Employment and Housing's lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. Proctor says that the interference from the Office of the Governor increased as the lawsuit "continued to win in state court." No further specific details about Governor Newsom or the Office of the Governor's interference were provided.
Wipper's role as Chief Counsel for California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing has been well regarded. Governor Newsom even reappointed Wipper to the role just four months ago. Prior efforts by Wipper's team include audits of Google's salary data and a subsequent lawsuit, Riot Games' $100 million settlement over alleged discrimination and harassment toward female employees, and recently confirmed plans to pursue a lawsuit against Tesla.
Wipper and Proctor do not leave the California DFEH without controversy, however. In October, following California's legal effort to upend the EEOC's $18 million settlement with Activision Blizzard, the EEOC alleged that Wipper and Proctor had violated ethics rules by participating in an EEOC investigation into Activision Blizzard and then also represented DFEH in its lawsuit against the company. It's unclear if these allegations were followed up on or played any role in these latest events.
What happens next is entirely uncertain. The EEOC has officially settled the federal lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for $18 million. California's DFEH previously claimed this settlement would undercut its own in-state lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, so that lawsuit's future is unclear. Now there are allegations against California governor Gavin Newsom which could grow into something significant. All of this happening as Microsoft moves forward with a $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard.