Activision Blizzard has been sued for the suicide of an employee who was the victim of sexual harassmentas reported Washington Post and polygonal. Kerri Moynihan, who held the position of finance manager in the company, died in 2017, during a trip organized by the company itself, after experiencing different events of harassment at work, and it has been her family who has now filed the aforementioned lawsuit , alleging that the sexual harassment received was a “significant factor” which led him to take his own life.
Moynihan’s horrific events that led to her suicide were named anonymously in the complaint that the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) published in July 2021. According to the statements, the employee He suffered sexual harassment from his co-workers at Activision Blizzard. These, at a company Christmas party, and prior to the 2017 trip, shared intimate photographs of the victim without consent. Also mentioned a “sexual relationship” she had with her “male supervisor,” Greg Restituito.
The new demand made by the parents, in fact, emphasizes this last event. They allege, in particular, that Restituito (supervisor) lied to investigators about his relationship with his daughter Kerri. They also ensure that Restituito “encouraged and allowed a work environment in which sexual harassment was widespread.” Also that he did nothing to prevent it, according to the documentation to which the aforementioned sources have had access.
The new lawsuit against Activision Blizzard makes clear the movements that the company made to hide what happened
Statements from a police report related to the suicide, which have been included in the aforementioned lawsuit, also directly mention Restituito. They detail that the aforementioned finance supervisor of Activision Blizzard took the liberty of conducting “apparently unusual investigations” with employees who were with the victim prior to her death. The goal, presumably, was to hide evidence of his relationship with Kerri.
The lawsuit, on the other hand, also mentions the company itself, Activision Blizzard, as an accomplice of Restituito. The company, in particular, refused to hand over the professional equipment to the police (portable and mobile), both the victim and the supervisor. In response to these new statements, Activision Blizzard assures that they are “deeply saddened” by the death of Kerri Moynihan, and that they will not mention anything about it out of respect for her relatives.
Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard claims to have fired some thirty employees who were reported for harassment and “punished” more than 40 for the same reason. On the other hand, Microsoft, who finalizes the purchase of this video game company, will keep Bobby Kotick as CEO, at least during the purchase process. Kotick, however, has been a very controversial and pointed figure in relation to these accusations for allegedly having knowledge of the toxic and abusive environment in his company.