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Activision Blizzard sued for wrongful death by family of employee who killed herself
Activision Blizzard sued for wrongful death by family of employee who killed herself
By Gus Garcia-Roberts and Shannon Liao
Yesterday at 3:01 p.m. EST | Updated yesterday at 3:15 p.m. EST
Activision Blizzard, the embattled gaming giant that Microsoft recently agreed to buy for nearly $69 billion, is being sued by the family of an employee who died by suicide, with the family blaming the woman’s death on sexual harassment and claiming that a supervisor then lied to detectives about his relationship with her, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.
The complaint, dated Thursday and filed by the parents of Kerri Moynihan, a 32-year-old finance manager at Activision Blizzard when she was found dead during a company retreat in 2017, claims that sexual harassment was a “significant factor” leading to her death.
Moynihan was first referenced, though not by name, in a California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit filed last July that accused the company of fostering a culture of sexual harassment, misconduct and gender-based discrimination. ... The DFEH complaint’s allegations included that at the holiday party before her death, male co-workers passed around a picture of her vagina, and referenced a “male supervisor” who allegedly brought sex toys with him on the business trip.
Activision Blizzard last year called the DFEH lawsuit’s claims “distorted, and in many cases false,” and criticized the state department for including mention of the suicide: “We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family."
{snip}
By Gus Garcia-Roberts
Gus Garcia-Roberts is an investigative reporter in the Sports Department. He joined The Washington Post in April 2021. Twitter https://twitter.com/ggarciaroberts
By Shannon Liao
Shannon Liao is a staff writer at The Washington Post covering video games. Twitter https://twitter.com/Shannon_Liao
By Gus Garcia-Roberts and Shannon Liao
Yesterday at 3:01 p.m. EST | Updated yesterday at 3:15 p.m. EST
Activision Blizzard, the embattled gaming giant that Microsoft recently agreed to buy for nearly $69 billion, is being sued by the family of an employee who died by suicide, with the family blaming the woman’s death on sexual harassment and claiming that a supervisor then lied to detectives about his relationship with her, according to a copy of the complaint obtained by The Washington Post.
The complaint, dated Thursday and filed by the parents of Kerri Moynihan, a 32-year-old finance manager at Activision Blizzard when she was found dead during a company retreat in 2017, claims that sexual harassment was a “significant factor” leading to her death.
Moynihan was first referenced, though not by name, in a California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit filed last July that accused the company of fostering a culture of sexual harassment, misconduct and gender-based discrimination. ... The DFEH complaint’s allegations included that at the holiday party before her death, male co-workers passed around a picture of her vagina, and referenced a “male supervisor” who allegedly brought sex toys with him on the business trip.
Activision Blizzard last year called the DFEH lawsuit’s claims “distorted, and in many cases false,” and criticized the state department for including mention of the suicide: “We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family."
{snip}
By Gus Garcia-Roberts
Gus Garcia-Roberts is an investigative reporter in the Sports Department. He joined The Washington Post in April 2021. Twitter https://twitter.com/ggarciaroberts
By Shannon Liao
Shannon Liao is a staff writer at The Washington Post covering video games. Twitter https://twitter.com/Shannon_Liao