A US District Court Judge on March 29 approved an $18 million settlement between Activision Blizzard and the US Equal Opportunity and Employment Commission over sexual harassment allegations against the video game publisher, Bloomberg Law reported.

While denying wrongdoing, Activision agreed in the settlement to create an $18 million fund for affected employees. California — whose Department of Fair Housing and Employment launched its own case against Activision in July 2021 — had sought to delay the settlement, claiming it would undercut its own case, Bloomberg Law reported. The DEHA case in February was expanded to include contingent workers. The DEHA case against Activision alleges the company “fostered a sexist culture and paid women less than men despite women doing substantially similar work, assigned women to lower level jobs and promoted them at slower rates than men, and fired or forced women to quit at higher frequencies than men. … African American women and other women of color were particularly impacted by Activision Blizzard’s discriminatory practices.”

Last week, a new case was filed against the video game maker in Los Angeles County Superior Court that alleges sexual harassment and discrimination as well as retaliation, Bloomberg Law reported. The plaintiff, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, has worked at Activision since 2017. The lawsuit says Activision’s “open ‘frat boy’ environment fostered rampant sexism, harassment and discrimination with 700 reported incidents occurring under CEO Robert Kotick’s watch.”

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