While legal issues and employee dissatisfaction continue at Activision Blizzard, the company does seem to have gotten a positive development in its efforts to complete an 18 million-dollar settlement with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed papers to intervene and stop the settlement before it had a chance to happen, but federal judge Dale S. Fischer stated in a hearing yesterday that, “I'm not going to allow the DFEH to intervene, it's just not appropriate”. While this is not the final ruling, the judge also communicated that she is unlikely to change her mind in this case.
Activision Blizzard and the EEOC announced the settlement decision and outlined the terms in September over the company's workplace culture and discrimination after a multi-year investigation. The purpose of the California DFEH trying to join the suit was stated as concerns that a federal settlement would undermine California’s suit against the company, filed in July, with federal settlements possibly letting the company out of state claims.
As reported in Bloomberg Law, the judge took on both sides for taking this dispute so public, calling it “unseemly” and advising them that they’ll have to work together in the future. She also expressed concerns that “some of these employees and former employees are going to get caught in the middle here and that’s not appropriate”.
A final decision on the proposed settlement will be coming in 2022. Activision Blizzard and the EEOC will have to clarify the terms and submit their final clarifications. Those who wish to submit comments on the case, including possibly the California DFEH, will have two weeks to do so. However, the judge indicated that if the consent decree that she receives from Activision Blizzard and the EEOC looks good, she might just sign it and finalize the deal.
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