Activision Blizzard’s legal troubles just took another potential turn. California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is appealing the judge’s ruling, according to a filing Friday. According to the ruling, the judge rejected the California DFEH’s attempt to interfere in an $18 million settlement between Activision Blizzard and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Activision Blizzard and the EEOC settled a lawsuit over the developer’s alleged toxic culture in September, creating a consent decree that included an $18 million settlement fund by Activision Blizzard to compensate employees. The case is separate from the lawsuit DFEH filed against Activision Blizzard in July, which is still ongoing.
In October, however, the DFEH filed a motion to intervene, arguing that the consent statute could free Activision Blizzard from the state’s claims and potentially allow the company to destroy evidence related to the DFEH’s case. The judge denied the motion in December, and now the DFEH is appealing the ruling.
The game developer has been embroiled in controversy since DFEH filed a lawsuit last summer. An employee petition calls for CEO Bobby Kotick to be fired, but he remains in office despite a report that he has been aware of the company’s sexual misconduct allegations for years. Some employees have been on strike for weeks in response to the sudden layoff of QA staff at Raven Software, known for its work on the Call of Duty franchise.