by The lawsuits just keep coming.
Activision Blizzard has been hit with yet another lawsuit alleging the company has a “pervasive frat-boy culture in the workplace that is fertile ground for harassment and discrimination against women.” This time, former manager Miguel Vega is accused of ongoing sexual harassment toward a female employee, named Ms. Jane Doe in the lawsuit.
As reported by Kotaku, the lawsuit alleges that Doe and Vega met in 2009 or 2010 at a game night after which they struck up an “online friendship.” During this friendship, Doe sent Vega “compromising images” which he would later use to threaten her. That friendship apparently ended in 2011 when Doe met her future husband.
Doe started working at Activision Blizzard in 2016 after Vega helped her land some freelance work, and then took on a full-time role as a community engagement coordinator for the player support department.
The lawsuit alleges that Vega “repeatedly bit Ms. Doe’s breasts,” squeezing, grabbing or poking at them at work. He also apparently tried to kiss her and when he saw her rebuff he would tell her “one day it will” or “one day you will give in”.
It is also alleged that Vega would belittle and insult Doe during the meetings. He apparently told her she was a “nobody” whose “opinions don’t matter” with “a job a monkey could do.”
Vega allegedly asked Doe for oral sex at work, implied that in order to get a raise she would have to engage in sexual activity with him, and asked her about her and her husband’s sex life.
Vega is also accused of threatening Doe’s career if she reported him to HR. He did in 2017, but says Activision Blizzard did nothing. Even after news of the company’s alleged “boy culture” broke, he apparently continued to threaten to release the “compromising photos” she had sent him ten years earlier, a practice known as revenge porn.
It wasn’t until August 2021 that Vega reported to Doe’s manager. He was subsequently fired in September 2021.
The lawsuit calls for both Activision Blizzard and Vega to go to a full jury trial seeking damages, legal fees, lost profits and medical expenses.
