Activision Blizzard has gone through a lot of legal hardship in the last several months as lawsuit after lawsuit hit the video game giant. Now, it appears that Blizzard's chief legal officer has had enough and is formally leaving the company.
Claire Hart, the chief legal officer in question, posted the news to her LinkedIn recently, where she announced that Friday, September 17 was her final day at Blizzard. While she's not the first Activision Blizzard employee to leave the company during these hard times, it is noticeable that she appears to have left willingly.
As of writing, Hart doesn't appear to have been directly implicated in any of the Activision Blizzard lawsuits, including the California gender discrimination lawsuit. However, her departure is another in a long string of executive departures at Blizzard. The list includes former Blizzard president J. Allen Brack, former Head of HR Jesse Meschuk, and the former director of Blizzard’s upcoming Diablo 4, Jesse McCree. McCree's departure is especially noteworthy, as characters named after him--including the Overwatch character previously known as Jesse McCree--are slated for renaming.
Recently, Activision Blizzard was hit by yet another lawsuit when the group ABK Workers Alliance filed an unfair labor practice suit with the National Labor Relations Board accusing the company of coercive tactics and union blocking. Members of at least one of Activision Blizzard's investment groups have already expressed their frustration with CEO Bobby Kotick's response to the toxic workplace allegations back in early August--before the unfair labor practice suit was filed and the scope of the California Activision Blizzard lawsuit was expanded by accusations of tampering with evidence.
Hart's LinkedIn post appears to have been received positively as of writing, with several users expressing happiness at having a chance to work with her and wishing her luck in the future. One user even announced that she would miss seeing Hart at their monthly Women’s group, though she did not go into any further detail. Hart worked at Blizzard for three years before leaving, with her resignation seeming to come just before the US Securities and Exchange Commission began investigating the ongoing lawsuit between Activision Blizzard and the State of California. As of writing, she has not mentioned where she will be working next.
Source: LinkedIn