Activision Blizzard: Top lawyer resigns, alleging interference from Governor Newsom in the lawsuit

New information that surfaced online has exposed possible interference by the California Governor’s Office in the ongoing Activision Blizzard lawsuit. A report stated that the Governor's office is interfering in the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) investigation into the discrimination lawsuit. Two top lawyers from the DFEH, are no longer a part of the administrative body. Janette Wipper, the Chief Counsel, who was reputed as a “strong litigator”, was “abruptly terminated” by the governor’s office. As a mark of protest, Melanie Proctor, the assistant chief counsel, also submitted her resignation. Here’s everything you need to know.

Activision Blizzard lawsuit details and context

After a lengthy two-year investigation into the working of the company Activision Blizzard, California DFEH filed the lawsuit only last year in July. Following this, a number of survivors working in the company, as well as ex-employees, came out with their experiences, which gave rise to a major wave of MeToo within the company. This was fueled by an exposition from The Wall Street Journal, which revealed CEO Bobby Kotick as an enabler. Keeping aside the three walkouts Activision Blizzard witnessed, the internal unionization, and multiple lawsuits filed by employees and ex-employees, the DFEH managed to extract a settlement of $18 million from the company, only two weeks back. 

It should be noted, as pointed out by Bloomberg, that the value is not very significant, given the scale of the company that Activision is. In a similar case with Riot Games, it is known that their compensation settlement value has gone up as high as $100 million. This too was attained by Wipper’s department itself at the DFEH. Therefore, it is quite unnatural for the value to be so low for Activision unless there has been external interference, which is exactly what is being suggested.

More information on possible interference

An email to the internal staff authored by Melanie Proctor, verified by Bloomberg stated that “The Office of the Governor repeatedly demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of next steps in the litigation. As we continued to win in state court, this interference increased, mimicking the interests of Activision’s counsel.”

Erin Mellon, communications director for Governor Gavin Newsom, informs that “claims of interference by our office are categorically false” and the governor’s office “will continue to support DFEH in their efforts to fight all forms of discrimination and protect Californians.” A spokesperson for the governor’s office said in a statement to Bloomberg that “they would not comment on personnel matters” and that the “DFEH will continue to vigorously enforce California’s civil rights and fair housing laws”.