According to the latest reports, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) has submitted a response after Activision Blizzard requested a suspension of the trial of the discrimination case filed by the California state government. Activision Blizzard requested a suspension of the lawsuit and said DFEH’s lawyers had misconduct caused by a conflict of interest.
According to the document, some of the lawyers involved in the case had previously participated in another case against the company while working for the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Activision Blizzard believes that such an arrangement violates the California State Bar Association’s conflict of interest rules. Therefore, the discrimination case should be shelved until the conflict is resolved.
In the California Superior Court today, DFEH submitted its response. The agency believes that the above-mentioned lawyers hardly participated in the investigation of Activision Blizzard during their work at EEOC. The document continues to point out that even if there is a conflict, the lawyers concerned have been withdrawn from the case, and DFEH was represented by an external law firm in this case.
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It is reported that Activision Blizzard’s objection comes from the conflict between the two employment agencies that filed a lawsuit against the company. Earlier this month, after DFEH tried to intervene in the US$18 million settlement between EEOC and Activision Blizzard, EEOC exposed the so-called conflict of interest.
DFEH believes that the settlement is immature, and EEOC did not properly investigate the matter before offering a settlement option to Activision Blizzard. In addition, DFEH stated that the intervention was necessary because the settlement between Activision Blizzard and EEOC (a federal agency) would protect it from lawsuits that have already been filed on behalf of the country in this case, DFEH.