Judge rules that Activision Blizzard discrimination suit must include temporary workers

Activision Blizzard continues to stay in the news, but not for the reasons they want to. Just weeks after their ground-breaking acquisition by Microsoft and with an executive shake-up looming as a result of it, they continue to fight a lawsuit from the state of California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for creating an environment rife with “unlawful harassment, discrimination, and retaliation.” Now, it looks like that lawsuit is going to be broader in scope than the company wanted.

According to games journalist Stephen Totilo on Twitter, the company’s recent motion to have the lawsuit narrowed to just permanent employees has been thrown out. The judge ruled that the court could indeed consider temporary workers’ treatment at the hands of Activision Blizzard when determining if they broke any laws.

This is particularly relevant to the company as a strike from employees at Raven Software, which is owned by Activision Blizzard, continues specifically due to their treatment of temporary employees. Had the motion held up, the lawsuit could not look at whether those contractors were unfairly dismissed. It also has potential implications across the gaming industry, which relies heavily on contractors and freelance employees to fulfill roles like Quality Assurance.

The state’s lawsuit against Activision Blizzard might have been originally filed back in July 2021, but it looks like it will be a while before it eventually reaches the trial stage. The jury trial isn’t scheduled to begin until February 2023 at the earliest.