Exactly. Sadly public opinion has likely already hanged them. People feel the need to do this for their own imagine. No one decent supports this alleged actively but there is a process and it should be carried out. If they are guilty ill be the first to call shame.
Sure, if we’re counting hurt feelings, but if our metric is DHKs, it’s obvious the fraternities are where the real pros play.
Well i for once dont like to put every body in the same bag. For the head who were accused i certainly hope they get cut
2 years is nothing in the context of this lawsuit lol
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They haven’t responded in court yet. If you want to read a lot into a press release made before they’ve even answered that’s on you lol.
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Yes, it is.
I have also read enough press releases to now that one was odd.
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Considering how well-known it’s been about how awful the work environment is at Blizzard, and almost all AAA companies in the same vein, it feels disingenuous to all of a sudden draw a line and declare them as innocent now. Is it because there’s now identified individuals rather than groups of faceless employees?
Like, the extent to some of it is the only surprise in this, and even that doesn’t seem to be shocking to people who actually worked there.
Well, that and the number of people ready to throw down for free in defense of Blizzard. Which, again, shouldn’t have been a surprise, I guess.
Spare me this tripe. Vague and illusory allegations of systemic problems are not and will never be actionable precisely because they are vague and illusory. Every culture is designed to protect PEOPLE who have POWER/PRIVILEGE because the fruits of power and privilege are good. The man who has a 10,000 acre plot of various crops is going to inherently get more protections than the man who has a 1 acre plot by virtue of one having so much more. On the flip side, our law will produce greater compensation to the 2nd man if he loses 1 acre to an arsonist’s fire than the 1st man, since he lost more than just 1 acre, he lost everything.
Conclusory nonsense like this is just that: conclusory.
Not even close, and I say that as a veteran who has worked in-house for the VA and as outside counsel for a variety of large and small corporations. Corporate structures in America are in no way, shape, or form anything like the military.
Did you read the original complaint from California?
- DFEH attempted to resolve this matter without litigation. Prior to filing this civil action, the DFEH required all parties to participate in mandatory dispute resolution in the department’s internal dispute resolution division free of charge to the parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without litigation. Specifically, DFEH invited Defendants to participate in a mediation session with the department’s internal dispute resolution division on July 1, 2, and 15, 2021, but the parties were unable to resolve the administrative complaints.
This is a FAR CRY from the serious allegations made by California when they were willing to have a sit-down with them and demand some kind of administrative remedy.
Blizzard’s response:
The DFEH includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past. We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and ample documentation, but they refused to inform us what issues they perceived. They were required by law to adequately investigate and to have good faith discussions with us to better understand and to resolve any claims or concerns before going to litigation, but they failed to do so. Instead, they rushed to file an inaccurate complaint, as we will demonstrate in court.
So California claims they tried to meet and confer to settle things without litigation but failed to agree, Blizzard claims California rushed through and gave inadequate time to actually have a good faith discussion.
Not going to lie, Blizzard has the better claim here. Dispute resolutions often take MONTHS on minor things, and here the DFEH attempted three meetings in a two-week period then filed the very next week. That’s hasty by any measurement. That’s the kind of hastiness that gets you and opposing counsel hauled in front of the judge to explain why everyone isn’t behaving themselves.
There’s also an ocean of difference in the accountability in the military. It isn’t even comparable. Corporations trying to cosplay as the military are just idiotic, because they don’t actually emulate, they just think having a hardnosed middle manager somehow makes it “military-like” but no one is accountable for anyone.
Now as for the claims by California there are three sets of alleged facts:
- Sex-based Discrimination in Pay/Promotion/Etc
- Sexual Harassment
- Retialiation
Of these, they cite zero specifics outside of naming Alex Afrasiabi. However, of note, the CA claims the real problem is that Blizzard “took no effective remedial measures.” They don’t explain or define what are or are not remedial measures, they just say they were inadequate. Put another way, had they fired him or similar, this bullet point (maybe) would not exist, but it is hard to tell given how vague they are in literally every other “fact” they allege.
The big reveal that a lot of this complaint is filled with junk is at ¶ 49, ln. 3-6.
Specifically, this employee noted that women on the Battle.net team were subject to disparaging comments, the environment was akin to working in a frat house, and that women who were not “huge gamers” or “core gamers” and not into the party scene were excluded and treated as outsiders.
It isn't against the law to be a rude jackass to someone.
Being disparaged generally is not a problem.
Being in “frat house”, whatever that is supposed to mean, is not a problem.
Not getting along with your stoner/party/gamer colleagues is not a problem.
This complaint reads like virtually every discrimination complaint I ever fielded while working at the VA. Without even knowing any additional underlying facts, there’s a 100% certainty that many of these supposed events by unnamed, undated, unverifiable employees are the result of someone being fired while being a woman, or someone being fired while being Hispanic, or someone having severe personality clashes with personnel, etc.
Blizzard is going to demand each and every one of these events be particularized and proven up, and then they’re going to turn right around and drop all the paperwork they have on that individual to show how and why lack of promotion, lack of pay increase, lack of “getting along”, etc, had nothing to do with their demographic and all to do with them being bad employees.
If Blizzard doesn’t have that kind of paperwork, they’re screwed, obviously. But I have no doubts they do, and some of these allegations are going to just disappear under the slightest scrutiny.
That anyone thinks anyone is going to get just majorly outed is a pipe dream. Allegations are going to get tossed out, and then they’re going to get whittled right on down until one side or the other runs out of options to trim the facts in their favor. That’s how litigation goes.
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Imagine living in the US and somehow coming to the conclusion that the current culture protects men, and on top of that white men.
No the culture is most definitely against the concept of men, especially white men. In a world where Black Lives Matters gets to riot and destroy everything constantly and they get to be justified and any white person who calls them out on this barbaric behavior gets labelled as a racist. In a world where 1 single woman can single handedly ruin somebodys career based on an allegation and nothing more. There is no universe that exists where one can think the US is white men friendly these days. There are actual government policies that reward others but punish them.
Like come on now
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Fixed that for you.
Dude, you need to get off forum boards and try the real world sometime.
Sure you did, Brack.
And thats your problem, you assume. I ignore news like this till it says “florida couple found guilty of…”
It’s the other way around.
Back as early as 2015, I remember an incident where Army cadets from Temple University were told to march in red high-heeled shoes while wearing his combat fatigues in an effort to “raise awareness of sexual assault against women”. This was despite the fact that it was a clear violation of Army Regulation 670-1.
As far as I know, they were not disciplined for this.
That’s just one example off the top of my head. I know the Navy has given out rewards specifically to particular demographics within their ranks as well. Rewarded simply for representing said demographic. Not sure how that’s conducive to an organization that is supposed to define itself by the uniform everyone wears.
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The whole entire upper management at Blizzard should be fired, there is no way this was going on with out upper management not knowing or being aware of it, remember METHOD…
One female employee committed suicide due to nude picture of her being passed around at a company event.
Go read the court documents done against Activision Blizzard after a 2year investigation, a federal state D.A. would not sue unless they had enough evidence to know they can win this case against them.
Yet another reason why you should never give one more single dollar of your money to them.
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Why? Is someone playing with matches?
Do people not understand how difficult this is going to be able to prove considering their key witness will never ever be able to testify?
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So every criminal and civil complaint filed by a DA is a fait accompli. I wonder why we insist on wasting so much money with a judicial system
What are defense attorneys even thinking amirite
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It’s not tripe, and the action won’t all be taking place in a courtroom.
Heads are going to roll.
Appeal to authority.
You can do better.
This is at the federal level, this is not some county or city D.A. office trying to get famous because he thinks he’s got a big case, federal don’t just throw accusation around like some seasonal thing or because they are bored.
aboutblaw(.)com/YJw
Imagine being a white dude in America and being afraid of the boogey man.
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