Activision Blizzard urges California court to dismiss DFEH lawsuit

gamepur.com:

Activision Blizzard has requested that a California court dismiss a lawsuit previously filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) against thegame company in July 2021. In a motion for summary adjudication (provided by Bloomberg Law) filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, Activision claimed that DFEH failed to properly investigate the claims leveraged against the company prior to filing suit last summer.

In the filing, the company outlined three steps that DFEH must take in order to file a lawsuit: It must fully investigate any claims identified, work to negotiate a resolution to any claims supported by the investigation, and then attempt to mediate a resolution to any unresolved claims. According to Activision, DFEH failed to carry out the last two steps, which the company claims should warrant the dismissal of the lawsuit.

“DFEH is not permitted to bring or maintain litigation under FEHA until it follows the steps described above, nor is this Court conferred with jurisdiction over such claims until the agency does so. The failure to follow statutory requirements compels dismissal under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (‘FEHA’),” read the filing.

According to the filing, DFEH and the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) worked together on the investigation. The former was assigned to investigate gender discrimination claims, while the latter looked into claims pertaining to workplace harassment and related retaliation.

Activision claimed that within a day of EEOC — which began its investigation first — concluding its investigation, DFEH quickly moved to both complete its investigation and sue despite “earlier indications that it still needed a great deal of