Blizzard employee speaks publicly on ‘alcohol-soaked culture’ of harassment

A Blizzard Entertainment employee has come forward, via a press conference with high-profile lawyer Lisa Bloom, to describe the company’s “alcohol-soaked culture of sexual harassment.” The press conference was held Wednesday morning outside Blizzard’s Irvine headquarters and livestreamed on Instagram. Christine Bloom, the employee who spoke out about her experience with sexual harassment at work, was joined by Bloom. World of Warcraft developer.

A current Blizzard employee of four years, Christine said she experienced the alleged “frat boy culture detrimental to women,” and that coworkers and supervisors made rude comments about her body, made unwanted sexual advances, and inappropriately touched her. According to her, she claimed that she was propositioned by a supervisor for sex; she reported the matter to manager who allegedly advised her to not go to human resource. Christine stated that after she complained, Christine was dismissed and harassed. They also retaliated against her and refused to pay her full profit share.

Bloom and Christine outlined a series of demands for Activision Blizzard, including a “streamlined, fast, [and] fair process for victims,” with an expansive victim compensation fund. They are also asking a neutral party to review discrimination — and to fix what’s found.

Bloom is known for representing women in high-profile sexual assault and harassment cases, including the allegations against Bill O’Reilly and Bill Cosby. However, she was also Harvey Weinstein’s advisor in the sexual assault case.

Activision Blizzard has not yet responded to Polygon’s request for comment.

Activision Blizzard was sued in July by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) after a two-year investigation into the company’s alleged “frat boy culture.” The game publisher, led by CEO Bobby Kotick, is the subject of multiple investigations, including from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), due to matters related to the sexual harassment and toxic culture allegations. Activision Blizzard still faces the DFEH and shareholder lawsuits. The EEOC suit was resolved earlier in the year for $18million.

Kotick was one of the top DFEH executives named in the lawsuit as having known about and enabled the behavior. The Wall Street Journal reported in November that Kotick was aware of the allegations and kept quiet about them.

Activision Blizzard employees from all departments and subsidiaries of the company have been forced to quit multiple times since the DFEH suit was filed. A petition was signed by nearly 2000 Activision workers and contract workers demanding Kotick quit in November. Activision Blizzard executives have responded to the petition in confused and sometimes hypocritical ways. Activision Blizzard released a statement following the Journal’s report, saying it presented a “misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO,” seemingly walking back on its previous commitment to make Activision Blizzard “a place where people are not only heard, but empowered.”

A third walkout, which is now entering day three, is ongoing as new allegations come to light from Wednesday’s press conference. Warzone: Call of Duty Raven Software QA staff walked off their job Monday, protesting the layoffs of last week. (Activision Blizzard describes the job cuts as not being renewed contracts, but The company said that it’s all converting 500 temporary workers to full-time status.) Raven Software QA personnel were joined on Tuesday by QA professionals from the entire company. August saw QA employees and other workers contracted by the videogame company speak out about hard work, low salaries, and intense crunch. This group of workers works on short-term contracts and is often undervalued or exploited.

Solidarity between workers is trying to get video game companies to confront a wide culture of sexism, harassment, and other discriminatory behavior. It’s not a problem confined only to Activision Blizzard; Riot Games, Ubisoft, and Sony Interactive Entertainment have all faced allegations regarding harassment.