Amidst months of legal entanglements surrounding Activision Blizzard's sexual harassment accusations, a district judge approved a settlement between the gaming giant and a federal agency.

Today, U.S. District Judge Dale Fischer approved the $18 million relief settlement between Activision Blizzard and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), closing one of many lawsuits against the company. The settlement occurs despite objections from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), which has an open suit against Activision Blizzard. A lawyer for the DFEH argued that such a settlement could undermine their own, which was submitted first. In response, Judge Fischer replied, "You already filed a motion. Your request is untimely. Talk to the Ninth Circuit."

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In July of last year, the DFEH filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for numerous sexual harassment and discrimination cases. This came after a two-year investigation by the DFEH, which found that multiple female employees, at all employment levels had been consistently subjected to discrimination based on their sex. Discriminatory practices included fewer opportunity levels, unequal pay, unfair termination and disproportionate promotion. According to the suit, unequal pay started at the moment of hire.

The DFEH went into detail on the "frat boy" culture at Activision Blizzard. "In the office, women are subjected to 'cube crawls' in which male employees drink copious amounts of alcohol as they 'crawl' their way through various cubicles in the office and often engage in inappropriate behavior toward female employees," the suit states. "Male employees proudly come into work hungover, play video games for long periods of time during work while delegating their responsibilities to female employees, engaging in banter about their sexual encounters, talk openly about female bodies, and joke about rape."

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Activision Blizzard has been under severe scrutiny since the allegations first surfaced. Then Activision Blizzard President J. Allen Brack stepped down the following month, claiming it was to "pursue new opportunities." Then in December, the Game Awards announced Activision Blizzard would not be taking part in the events due to the recent allegations and current lawsuits against the company. Last week, a new case against Activision Blizzard surfaced as an anonymous employee filed a lawsuit stating the same harassment, discrimination, and frat-boy culture listed in the other suits.

Although the suit by EEOC is settled today, Activision Blizzard still faces the original allegations leveled against them by the DFEH, among others. The settlement today holds of risk of undermining those cases which remain. A lawyer for DFEH expressed concern today to Judge Fischer, saying, "The consent decree cannot interfere with the DFEH. Activision has indicated its intent to use it to undermine our case." Judge Fischer replied, "I'm going to sign the consent decree. If you're going to file something, file something. I'm telling you it's untimely."

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Source: The Hollywood Reporter