This Activision Lawsuit Is About a Wrongful Death
Activision Blizzard has not been in the news lately for lawsuits- not after the Microsoft buy-out, and the many assurances that things need to improve. While there are still ongoing lawsuits by the government against Blizzard for their employee treatment, a new lawsuit has arisen.
And it certainly will not help the company image in the least.
Kerri Moynihan, a finance manager at the time of her death for Activision Blizzard, was found dead during a company retreat in 2017. The 32-year-old’s family, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, is claiming that sexual harassment and the company environment were contributing factors in her death. During the Californian lawsuit, Moynihan’s death was brought up as one of the more disturbing examples of how toxic the work environment had gotten, and how little had been done about it.
Moynihan’s family, Paul and Janet Moynihan have accused one of the supervisors during the trip, one Greg Restituito, that he had not only lied to investigators looking into their daughter’s death at the retreat, but also lied about the nature of their relationship, which was said to be sexual.
It also alleges that Activision refused to hand over Moynihan’s company laptop for the investigation, claimed that her phone had been “wiped” and also refused access to Restituito’s laptop and phone.
In response to the allegations as stated by the initial report, it did not address concerns directly, only saying they were “deeply saddened by the tragic death of Ms. Moynihan, who was a valued member of the company,” and that they would “address the complaint through the legal process as appropriate, and out of respect for the family [had] no further comment at this time.”
It did not help, however, that when this was addressed during the Californian lawsuit, their tone was far more aggressive, stating that the filing contained “distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past” and that “It is this type of irresponsible behavior from unaccountable State bureaucrats that are driving many of the State’s best businesses out of California.”
How Activision will react further to Kerri Moynihan’s case, we will have to see.