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Activision Blizzard Employees To Protest Working Conditions, Sexual Harassment Amid Gaming Company’s Discrimination Lawsuit

Employees of Activision Blizzard, the gaming company behind popular gaming titles including Call of Duty, Overwatch and World of Warcraft, are staging a walkout to protest working conditions.

The protest, set to take place at the company’s main campus in Irvine, CA, on Wednesday comes weeks after a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard claimed the company created a workplace that fostered sexual harassment and discrimination. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing said in its lawsuit, that Activision allowed a “‘frat boy’ workplace culture.” The accusations claimed executives sexually harassed women and male employees openly joked about rape and drank alcohol while engaging in “inappropriate behavior” toward women.

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According to Bloomberg, a group of employees at Blizzard Entertainment is organizing the protest to”improve conditions for employees at the company,” specifically those in marginalized groups.

On Tuesday, more than 1,000 current and former Activision Blizzard employees penned a letter criticizing the company’s response to the lawsuit.

“Our company executives have claimed that actions will be taken to protect us, but in the face of legal action — and the troubling official responses that followed — we no longer trust that our leaders will place employee safety above their own interests,” the letter read. “To claim this is a “truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit” while seeing so many current and former employees speak out about their own experiences regarding harassment and abuse is simply unacceptable.”

It continues: “We call for official statements that recognize the seriousness of these allegations and demonstrate compassion for victims of harassment and assault.”

Per Bloomberg, “collective action is rare in the video-game industry, which has no unions in North America.”

Former and current Activision Blizzard employees also called out the gaming company on social media. See their tweets, and employee demands below.

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