Recently, Activision Blizzard settled one of its lawsuits for $18 million. Despite that, the situation still has a long way to go until it reaches its conclusion. Following the settlement, several U.S. senators sent a letter to the Federal Trade Commission raising concerns over the acquisition. The latest news regarding Activision Blizzard concerns Melanie Proctor, the Assistant Chief Counsel for California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, who is leading the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. She has resigned from her position as a protest following the firing of her boss, Chief Counsel Janette Wipper. Both lawyers stepped down from the Activision Blizzard lawsuit earlier this month without explanation. Proctor is accusing the Governor’s office of allegedly interfering with the lawsuit against the company.
Proctor says in a email to staff that in the recent weeks, California Govenor Gavin Newsom and his office allegedly “began to interfere” with the Activision suit. Proctor wrote “The Office of the Govenor repeatedly demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of next steps in the litigation. As we continued to win in state court, this interference increased, mimicking the interests of Activision’s counsel.”
Janette Wipper started at the DFEH in 2018 and according to multiple people, helped overhaul the agency for the better. Detractors accused her of being too aggressive at a public agency rather than deferring to civil rights plaintiff’s lawyers. “For the first time in its history, the Department of Fair Employment and Housing had a strong litigator who was actually flexing the significant muscles that statute and regulations provide to protect workers in its state,” Jennifer Reisch, an attorney who worked with Wipper said in an interview.
Wipper is “evaluating all avenues of legal recourse including a claim under the California Whistleblower Protection Act, said her spokeswoman, Alexis Ronickher.
In a statement to Bloomberg, Newsom spokeswoman Erin Mellon said “Claims of interference by our office are categorically false. The Newsom administration supports the effective work DFEH has done under Director Kevin Kish to enforce civil rights laws and protect workers, and will continue to support DFEH in their efforts to fight all forms of discrimination and protect Californians.”
In her resignation email, Melanie Proctor said ” Justice should be administered equally, not favoring those with political influence.” She encouraged staff to continue working on the agency’s ongoing litigation “to the best of your abilities.”