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[Ezekiel_]

The Washington Post: Activision Blizzard sued for wrongful death by family of employee who killed herself.

Activision Blizzard, the embattled gaming giant that Microsoft recently agreed to buy for nearly $69 billion, is being sued by the family of an employee who died by suicide, with the family blaming the woman’s death on sexual harassment and claiming that a supervisor then lied to detectives about his relationship with her, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.

The complaint, dated Thursday and filed by the parents of Kerri Moynihan, a 32-year-old finance manager at Activision Blizzard when she was found dead during a company retreat in 2017, claims that sexual harassment was a “significant factor” leading to her death.

Moynihan was first referenced, though not by name, in a California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit filed last July that accused the company of fostering a culture of sexual harassment, misconduct and gender-based discrimination.

The DFEH complaint’s allegations included that at the holiday party before her death, male co-workers passed around a picture of her vagina, and referenced a “male supervisor” who allegedly brought sex toys with him on the business trip.

Activision Blizzard last year called the DFEH lawsuit’s claims “distorted, and in many cases false,” and criticized the state department for including mention of the suicide: “We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family."

More at link

https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2022/03/04/activision-blizzard-employee-suicide-lawsuit/

 

[kingfey]

They deserved to be sued. Activision higher ups should be arrested, for letting this shit go for too long.

 

[EDMIX]

the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family."

Dear god Activision are some scumbags lol I'd say.....maybe sexual harassment might have a role in someone taking their life.

 

[StateofMajora]

: “We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family."

Uh huh…

 

[Zeroing]

The brand “Activision” keeps getting more and more toxic… and MS is being a associated by it because of the purchase.

From a brand marketing perspective… not good.

 

[Smokken]

"Allegations......"Allegedly". So no actual proof then? Do any of these lawsuits come with any evidence at all, except a lot of people (women) feeling harrassed and blaming "masculine toxic workplace"?

 

[WitchHunter]

Why Google is sitting on all those camera glasses? That would be a perfect tool to record these things.

 

[Leyasu]

The brand “Activision” keeps getting more and more toxic… and MS is being a associated by it because of the purchase.

From a brand marketing perspective… not good.

In a few months the activision name will be no more.

Only the I.Ps will remain

 

[DavJay]

If this deal with MS doesn’t go through we all now know they have at least 70 billion to spend on gaming acquisitions.

 

[K2D]

That Activision energy..

 

[laynelane]

"Allegations......"Allegedly". So no actual proof then? Do any of these lawsuits come with any evidence at all, except a lot of people (women) feeling harrassed and blaming "masculine toxic workplace"?

Perhaps this has something to do with the lack of "evidence" you mention.

According to the lawsuit, Activision Blizzard then refused to turn over to police Moynihan’s company-issued laptop, said that her cellphone had been “wiped,” and also refused to give them access to Restituito’s laptop or cellphone.

 

[kingfey]

"Allegations......"Allegedly". So no actual proof then? Do any of these lawsuits come with any evidence at all, except a lot of people (women) feeling harrassed and blaming "masculine toxic workplace"?

Were you in a cave? They passed a naked women picture around, and harrased her, until she killed herself.

Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Alleges Horrific Mistreatment Of Women

A two year investigation by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has resulted in a lawsuit that is moving forward against Activision Blizzard for what is deemed a “frat boy” culture at the company, in terms of ...

www.forbes.com

• A female employee died by suicide on a company trip. The lawsuit alleges this was “due to a sexual relationship she had been having with her male supervisor,” who was found by police to have brought sex toys to the trip. Additionally, it was cited the female employee had previously faced intense sexual harassment at work, including an incident where a photo of her genitals was passed around by male employees at a holiday party.

 

[Zeroing]

In a few months the activision name will be no more.

Only the I.Ps will remain

True MS can simply remove any traces of the name Activision.

That is if/when the deal is approved.

 

[Clear]

Seems to me this has very little to do with videogames.

This woman was an accountant working as a finance manager. Lets be honest, the position and environment would be the same for most any corporate employer, she could have been working for McDonalds and the same scenario would have played out - seemingly some sort of personal relationship gone bad.

Tragedy for her family, but it kinda bugs me that its all been sort of lumped in with the whole "toxicity in the gaming industry" thing; when this seems to be very much apart.

 

[kingfey]

Seems to me this has very little to do with videogames.

This woman was an accountant working as a finance manager. Lets be honest, the position and environment would be the same for most any corporate employer, she could have been working for McDonalds and the same scenario would have played out - seemingly some sort of personal relationship gone bad.

Tragedy for her family, but it kinda bugs me that its all been sort of lumped in with the whole "toxicity in the gaming industry" thing; when this seems to be very much apart.

read post #12

 

[IFireflyl]

The brand “Activision” keeps getting more and more toxic… and MS is being a associated by it because of the purchase.

From a brand marketing perspective… not good.

The problem is a ton of people are either ignorant of Activision Blizzard's behavior, or they admonish Activision Blizzard while simultaneously paying for their games/subscriptions. P.R. doesn't really matter when people buy your stuff regardless. I hope Activision Blizzard loses this lawsuit. That's the only way I think they'll learn anything.

 

[Ezquimacore]

Activision: The Real GamerGate... where's Anita Sarkeesian? where is that bih when you need her?

 

[Zeroing]

The problem is a ton of people are either ignorant of Activision Blizzard's behavior, or they admonish Activision Blizzard while simultaneously paying for their games/subscriptions. P.R. doesn't really matter when people buy your stuff regardless. I hope Activision Blizzard loses this lawsuit. That's the only way I think they'll learn anything.

A lawsuit puts activision on the spotlight and in a bad way… all this information will trickle down and it will have effects on consumers and in the public in general! Specially if a documentary of sorts get’s made putting into light what else happened. We all know USA love scandals!

 

[DForce]

"Allegations......"Allegedly". So no actual proof then? Do any of these lawsuits come with any evidence at all, except a lot of people (women) feeling harrassed and blaming "masculine toxic workplace"?

Uh, reporters always say "allegedly" even if there's clear evidence that the person committed the crime.

 

[nush]

Now we have a face to the name.

Nichols Funeral Home | Wilmington MA funeral home and cremation

www.nicholsfuneralhome.com

Honestly, after 5 years, I think someone is riding the narrative for a payday. First rule of sharing noodz, don't share noodz. Second rule of sharing noodz, don't show your face for plausible deniability and as what's so far stated is just a picture of a vagina rule two was followed.

 

[chromhound]

They look fucking guilty (Activision) . They also wiped the phones ???

The lawyers and all these assholes involved:

 

[laynelane]

Now we have a face to the name.

Nichols Funeral Home | Wilmington MA funeral home and cremation

www.nicholsfuneralhome.com

Honestly, after 5 years, I think someone is riding the narrative for a payday. First rule of sharing noodz, don't share noodz. Second rule of sharing noodz, don't show your face for plausible deniability and as what's so far stated is just a picture of a vagina rule two was followed.

The article says the parents were unaware of the harassment their daughter experienced until the California DFEH lawsuit last summer. It must have been quite a painful shock for them.

 

[nush]

They also wiped the phones ???

Standard operating procedure for data security. Was she actually using a work phone for sexting? I think we all know not to do dodgy stuff on work IT equipment. I think they couldn't find anything on her personal phone at the time and they had no right to claim ownership of her company IT equipment.

If there was actual evidence of foul play at the time the police could have confiscated that phone and laptop as evidence.

 

[Sega Orphan]

I will wait for all the facts to come out first. I have seen too many incidents where what was accused didn't happen.
If she did send a nude to a guy and he showed it around then that's a cunt act, and I hope you can never find another girl who will touch you ever again.

 

[nush]

The article says the parents were unaware of the harassment their daughter experienced until the California DFEH lawsuit last summer.

Again, 5 years later that IT equipment would have been wiped and now even scrapped as outdated equipment. What will still exist is any Emails sent, they are backed up and archived somewhere, you don't need the device they were atually sent from.

 

[laynelane]

Again, 5 years later that IT equipment would have been wiped and now even scrapped as outdated equipment. What will still exist is any Emails sent, they are backed up and archived somewhere, you don't need the device they were atually sent from.

I was referring to your statement that after five years someone is looking for a payday. I'm not sure what IT equipment has to do with that.

 

[nush]

I was referring to your statement that after five years someone is looking for a payday. I'm not sure what IT equipment has to do with that.

You're using selective reading now, They didn't know,then evidence was wiped. They only know due to the original story getting published.

 

[laynelane]

You're using selective reading now, They didn't know,then evidence was wiped. They only know due to the original story getting published.

No, I'm basing this on this paragraph from the linked article:

The suit claims that Moynihan’s parents were unaware of the alleged sexual harassment of their deceased daughter until the California DFEH filed its lawsuit last summer and that Activision supervisors including Restituito “knew or should have known” that she was being sexually harassed but “failed and refused to take immediate corrective action.”

 

[EDMIX]

Activision: The Real GamerGate... where's Anita Sarkeesian? where is that bih when you need her?

Honest question, did you look? I hate when I hear that shit like "where is" and this narrative that someone is absent that the person also made zero attempt to follow, look for or ask their view on something etc lol

Its as if we live in society that follows news as law or some rule so much, they think NOT reading a article or in this case a thread about it means that person didn't say anything.

So where? Probably on where Twitter and other social media man lol She has been talking about this issue for years and I see no evidence that she suddenly stopped, simply that you didn't look is all.

https://twitter.com/anitasarkeesian

The Activision Blizzard walkout could bring a reckoning for the video game industry - Marketplace

California regulators say the company, maker of World of Warcraft and Call of Duty, had a "frat boy drinking culture" that led to unwanted advances and offensive treatment of women.

www.marketplace.org

https://www.thedailybeast.com/anita-sarkeesian-on-life-after-gamergate-i-want-to-be-a-human-again

So for all we know she has a article or podcast or something that will be covering this, but understand that she hasn't really stopped doing what she has been doing

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Yeah, back when this first made the rounds, I was kind of shocked they weren't taken to court over it. Makes sense, and the family deserves for restitution for it. This goes beyond the blue haired "a dude hugged me after a date and then held the door for me, I am literally shaking," and goes straight into REAL issues. Issues that, unfortunately, get dismissed or ignored because of the radical "awareness," and activism going on that draws all the attention. A woman who committed suicide obviously isn't going to be as loud and iconic as the Zoe Quinns and Sarkeesians of the world, and it frustrates me to no end.

Hope the family cleans house.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

More of this, please.

 

[SpongebobSquaredance]

"Allegations......"Allegedly". So no actual proof then? Do any of these lawsuits come with any evidence at all, except a lot of people (women) feeling harrassed and blaming "masculine toxic workplace"?

 

[TheInfamousKira]

This. It's just smart business for any kind of publication/public figure to use "allegedly," for matters pertaining to other people, especially if those matters are in, or likely to go to court. Basically takes the magazine out of the defamation gun so that you don't get lit up on a technicality. Anytime there's shit that you yourself cannot verify 100% beyond a reasonable doubt with your own substantial evidence, you should use language that dictates that. I think the evidence is pretty clear cut, since there's a literal body attached to the story, but it's still a smart play.

 

[nush]

A woman who committed suicide obviously

Had mental issues beyond "Oh shit someone shared my V-jay pics" anyway. Accounting, the most boring department in any company, least likely to be sitting with a lot of gamer dudebros the narrative wants you to believe.

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Had mental issues beyond "Oh shit someone shared my V-jay pics" anyway. Accounting, the most boring department in any company, least likely to be sitting with a lot of gamer dudebros the narrative wants you to believe.

Oh, absolutely. And mental health is a huge fucking deal, but at a certain point, we have to make judgement calls in situations like this. If it was cat calling and untoward "one of the bros," remarks, I'd be more inclined to concede that it's a major, albeit tragic, overreaction. But something to the degree of what's been described would be absolutely humiliating and ostracizing to a person who's neurotypical, let alone someone suffering from a mental illness.

You kind of have to ask yourself, "Would this person still be around if this event hadn't happened?" and weigh the answer with what's deemed within normal parameters of the job. I'm the last person that thinks people should walk on eggshells to avoid triggering people, but you really shouldn't be driven to suicide doing something as usually innocuous as going to work. Furthermore, working in finance for a game developer, this behavior falls way out of the expected bullshit territory. If you're a stripper, a sex worker, fuck it, a social worker, someone at a call center, you have to expect a certain amount of disparaging remarks or misogyny, but I don't blame this woman at all for thinking her surroundings were a touch too blue collar for frat boy antics. Walking on eggshells shouldn't be synonymous with not being a complete fucktard.

 

[nush]

but at a certain point, we have to make judgement calls in situations like this.

Nobody made her, take off her underwear, spread her legs and shove a smartphone down there to send a pic to her manager who she wanted to/was fucking. If a man did the same thing he'd be the one accused of being a sexual harasser but as it's a woman she's the victim of sexual harassment by her own actions.

I've worked for game companies my observations are based on first-hand observable fact that finance is always shut away on a different floor, along with HR and IT from any game dev "Bros".

Any mental illness is being left out of the narrative, but here's a woman that based on the information we have is 32, not married, no kids and sending vag pics to her manager.

 

[Clear]

Its kinda strange, a few years back people working in corporate finance were considered "Yuppies", with a reputation for work-hard, play-hard lifestyles. You'd expect lots of booze, lots of coke, and lots of fucking to be on the agenda for a weekend retreat.

Now obviously that would never have been universally true, but that would have been the public/media perception. These cats would be considered extremely privileged, and likely hedonistic.

Today, the way its presented... well, its all about victimhood. Despite the fact that I'm sure these same jobs are still extremely well paying.

None of this is to diminish what happened, or how culpable HR is in any sort of hushing up of misbehaviour, just that its very strange how thing have become flipped-around in terms of how the narrative, circumstance, and participants are presented to us by the media.

 

[DenchDeckard]

This is awful. I'm not too up on the case but how can they blatantly be that dirty and try and make out that sexual harassment couldnt push someone to suicide.

Rank, thoughts to the family.

I hope MS clear house and sort the internal rot of this company out.

 

[nikolino840]

The brand “Activision” keeps getting more and more toxic… and MS is being a associated by it because of the purchase.

From a brand marketing perspective… not good.

And the shareholder Who sued Microsoft?
Has nothing to say of the suicide if it's good or bad for the Company?

 

[Rest]

The brand “Activision” keeps getting more and more toxic… and MS is being a associated by it because of the purchase.

From a brand marketing perspective… not good.

They can drop the Activision name in a second flat. No one gives a fuck about publisher branding. Games sell games, not the little logo in the corner of the box.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

To me, this should be a criminal case involving the supervisor and the individuals who contributed to the workplace harassment.

 

[Swift_Star]

They can drop the Activision name in a second flat. No one gives a fuck about publisher branding. Games sell games, not the little logo in the corner of the box.

I don’t think they will and it’s really weird that all of this is getting even more heat after the purchase.

 

[Victor Omega]

Why doesntt IGN not cover these stories?

Even gaming YouTuber acknowledge these sort of

 

[Captain Toad]

Reward them $68.7 billion

 

[TheInfamousKira]

Why doesntt IGN not cover these stories?

Even gaming YouTuber acknowledge these sort of

Can't risk that early access badge.

 

[Velius]

They won't win. For a couple different reasons.

First of all whatever evidence they need to make a compelling case, probably doesn't exist, no longer exists or has the ability to be buried by the execs.
But second of all, and I know everyone will hate me for saying this, but... it's hard to make a case when someone has not been actively told and goaded into killing themselves. Sexual harassment gets you fined/penalized for sexual harassment, not any self-harm inflicted as a direct or indirect result of it. You have to establish too many things beyond reasonable doubt.

 

[SuperSaiyanWithDreads]

The brand “Activision” keeps getting more and more toxic… and MS is being a associated by it because of the purchase.

From a brand marketing perspective… not good.

I see what u did there, but no, microsoft has nothing to do with the shit that happened before the purchase that hasn’t fell through yet and no this isn’t making Microsoft look bad because it’s hope MS will change the culture and make it better; MS being the beacon of hope

 

[Zeroing]

I see what u did there, but no, microsoft has nothing to do with the shit that happened before the purchase that hasn’t fell through yet and no this isn’t making Microsoft look bad because it’s hope MS will change the culture and make it better; MS being the beacon of hope

The xbox defence force should be more coordinated. I already discussed this. I just just stating the obvious.

 

[Rat Rage]

Boy, it has to be REALLY fun to work for or associate oneself with Activison Blizzard these days... If I were a talented employee/developer over there, I wonder what I would do

 

[synce]

I don't think that's how wrongful death works. She chose to end her life instead of a million other alternatives.