In the protracted legal battle against Activision Blizzard, two agencies, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, have come into conflict with one another. The United States District Court for the Central District of California recently held a remote hearing in which Judge Dale S. Fischer announced that the DFEH would not be allowed to intervene in the EEOC’s settlement with Activision Blizzard.
The DFEH was the first of many organizations to file lawsuits pertaining to sexual harassment and discrimination against Activision Blizzard back in July. The EEOC joined them in September, filing and immediately settling a similar suit with Activision for $18 million–the biggest amount the federal organization could do for such a case.
Understandably, the DFEH was not happy with the $18 million dollar slap on the wrist against multi-billion dollar Activision Blizzard, so it filed an intervention ex parte–an expedited claim used primarily for emergencies. The EEOC bit back, providing proof of conflicts of interest involving former DFEH lawyers who had done work for the EEOC against Activision Blizzard.
Bloomberg Law reported on the most recent denial of the DFEH’s intervention. During the hearing, Judge Fischer scolded both the DFEH and the EEOC for their unsportsmanlike conduct through the investigations and lawsuits, saying justice for the employees of ABK would be affected the most through their squabbling. That said, Fischer was sympathetic towards the DFEH’s concerns, even as she denied its intervention; it will have the opportunity to submit its own comments after the EEOC finalizes its settlement, after which a final judgement will be rendered on its legality. Though Judge Fischer’s statements during the remote hearing are not formal rulings, her stance is unlikely to change before then. For now, the legal cage match for the battle over Activision Blizzard’s money continues.
However, Judge Fischer was right when she said the employees of Activision Blizzard suffer the most from this infighting. The legal quagmire these cases have become are only further complicated as these companies trip over one another, which has the ultimate effect of extending the mess even longer than it already has been. Until the DFEH and the EEOC can settle their differences, Activision’s ongoing legal troubles are unlikely to end.
Since its own request to halt the DFEH’s investigations into it were denied, Activision Blizzard has not yet commented on this most recent development, though it has been battling multiple strikes and attempts to unionize amidst embittered ABK staff.
Source: Wowhead