Activision Blizzard is yet again hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit, to nobody's surprise and everyone's disappointment. Keep reading to learn more about the details here.
A female employee known only as Jane Doe is suing the video game company. She listed sexual battery, sexual harassment, failure to prevent harassment, gender discrimination, and intentional infliction of emotional stress. They also called Activision Blizzard “a massive video game company with a massive sexual harassment problem” in the lawsuit. To be specific, she was speaking out against the actions of Miguel Vega, a former employee, and Doe's former manager.
Doe and Vega had a history prior to working together at Activision Blizzard. Doe recalled that she met Vega in 2009 or 2010, when she entered a virtual friendship with him. She then sent “compromising photos” to him while in the friendship. This relationship, however, ended in 2011 when she met her future husband. Vega, later on, helped Doe get work in Activision Blizzard in 2016 as an independent contractor, before becoming a community engagement coordinator for the Player Support Department in 2020.
It was here that Vega started making unwelcomed sexual advances at Doe. According to the lawsuit, Vega would repeatedly grope her, and on various occasions tried to kiss her. Every time Doe rejected his advances, he would tell her that “one day it'll happen” or “one day you'll give in”. Other than the sexual advances, Vega would also belittle and insult Doe. Doe stated in the suit that Vega always made her feel small, which Vega would dismiss as her being too sensitive whenever she called him out.
Not content with all this, Vega would also threaten to release the compromising photos she received from Doe back in 2009/2010. He threatened to blackmail her with the pictures, so that she would leave her husband for him. Doe then reported the revenge porn threat to management, leading to Vega being fired the next month. Doe, however, said that Activision's slow action in dealing with the situation was them basically ratifying Vega's actions.
This is not the first time that Activision Blizzard has been in hot water over sexual harassment and discrimination allegations. In fact, it's safe to say that it never really stopped. Various other female employees have stepped forward since last year, calling out the “frat boy atmosphere” that the company has, which fostered sexism, harassment, and discrimination. Hopefully, this will be the last incident, although chances are it won't be.
Follow Us
Subscribe