Attorney conflict could benefit Activision Blizzard in harassment suit

Enlarge / Activision's Los Angeles offices. (credit: Getty Images)

In a new legal filing, Activision Blizzard is pointing to alleged conflicts of interest within California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) in an effort to delay or stymie the state agency's continuing lawsuit over alleged discrimination and sexual harassment at the company.

Conflict claims

Those who have been following California's slowly unfolding case against Activision since it first became public in July may remember that the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) brought a similar but separate lawsuit against the company last month. Activision Blizzard quickly agreed to a consent decree to settle that federal case, setting up an $18 million restitution fund for affected employees in the process.

Earlier this month, though, California's DFEH filed an objection to that federal settlement, saying in part that it had a "potential prejudicial impact on the state of California's pending enforcement of [the Fair Employment and Housing Act]." The settlement, California argued, might cause "irreparable harm" to the DFEH's case and "may result in the waiver of state claims relevant to DFEH's pending case and the destruction or tampering of evidence necessary to DFEH's case."

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