Activision Blizzard has been sued by New York City over Microsoft acquisition
A lawsuit from New York City officials has accused Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick of rushing to sell the company to Microsoft in a bid to escape liability for wrongdoing and realise significant bonuses.
As reported by Axios, the lawsuit was filed on April 26 by the New York City Employees’ Retirement System and pension funds for the city’s firefighters, police force and teachers.
The plaintiffs, who own Activision Blizzard stock, filed the lawsuit in a bid to gain access to its corporate books and records, which they believe could expose Kotick and its board of directors to misconduct that has depressed the company’s share price.
They originally began seeking access to internal Activision Blizzard documents last October after the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher was sued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) over its failure to handle sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees.
Plaintiffs were seeking to determine what Kotick knew about sexual misconduct at Activision Blizzard as a pretext to suing him and his fellow board members for allegedly devaluing the company.
It has since emerged that Microsoft started talks with Kotick about a deal to acquire Activision Blizzard just three days after the publication of a Wall Street Journal report alleging that the company’s leader had known for years about allegations of sexual misconduct.
In a statement at the time, a company spokesperson said Kotick “would not have been informed of every report of misconduct at every Activision Blizzard company, nor would he reasonably be expected to have been updated on all personnel issues”.
The lawsuit alleges: “Given Kotick’s personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s
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