Video game company Activision Blizzard sued for discrimination and fostering a "frat boy culture"
An investigation by the State of California found widespread harassment and discrimination toward their women employees

The video game company responsible for games like World Of Warcraft, Diablo, Call Of Duty, and Candy Crush, has been smacked with a lawsuit by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing which alleges pervasive discrimination and sexual harassment toward female employees. Activision Blizzard, one of the titans of the video game world, is being sued for creating a toxic “frat boy culture” and for the unequal treatment of its employees on all levels of employment.
After a 2-year investigation, the state agency alleges that the company discriminates against female employees in every facet of employment, including compensation, assignment, promotion, and termination. The state agency also alleges that company leadership consistently fails to take steps to prevent discrimination, harassment, and retaliation. In the history of the company, women have rarely reached higher level positions, which are held exclusively by white men. Women at the company start in lower positions—with significantly lower salaries—and are far less likely to receive promotions and are terminated much faster than their male counterparts.
Women and girls make up half of all gamers in America, yet women make up just 20 percent of the Activision Blizzard workforce. The lawsuit explains that these women–once in the office—are subjected to “cube crawls,” where male co-workers drink copious amounts of alcohol, moving from cubicle to cubicle and engaging “in inappropriate behavior toward female employees.” According to the complaint, this behavior is increasingly common and women working for Activision Blizzard face groping, sexual comments, unwanted advances, and other forms of harassment.
During the workday, the men at the company allegedly delegate tasks to their subordinate women employees and play videos games, all while making inappropriate and sexual jokes, talking about women’s bodies, and openly joking about rape. In one instance, a supervisor is said to have encouraged a male employee to “buy” a prostitute to “cure his bad mood.” The women working under the World Of Warcraft team echoed many of these allegations.