NLRB files complaint against Activision Blizzard over illegal surveillance case

pcgamesinsider.biz:

The United States' National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) has filed a complaint against Activision Blizzard over claims it illegally surveillance employees and violated labour laws.

That's according to IGN, which reports that the NLRB has finished an investigation into the claims filed by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, which claimed that Activision Blizzard had illegally surveilled staff during the July 2022 walkouts in protest of the overturning of Roe v Wade. At the time, employees were also seeking a labour-neutrality agreement from the company, too.

The CWA claims that Activision Blizzard surveilled staff "through managers and security" while engaged in protected labour activity. The union also claims that the Call of Duty giant allegedly threatened to cut off access to some internal comms channels "because employees are discussing wages, hours, and working conditions." Finally, the CWA also claims that Activision Blizzard cut access to an all-hands meeting "where employees were discussing wages, hours and working conditions," which the union thought to be a Section 7 violation. The NLRB appears to disagree and has dismissed this charge.

In a post about the charges, Activision Blizzard's chief administrative officer Brian Bulatao said that chat was disabled during all-hands meeting due to reports it " was particularly disruptive after some employees used the chat to disparage the work of the Diablo Immortal team and others." He also claims that the presence of Blizzard management at the July 2022 walkout was the company's comms team – to deal with press – and security to keep things in hand.

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