Blizzard faces lawsuit from family of employee who committed suicide

Activision Blizzard has been hit with yet another lawsuit, this time by the family of a former employee who committed suicide in 2017. The lawsuit cites sexual harassment experienced by the employee as a ‘significant factor’ behind her suicide. This employee has been mentioned in California’s lawsuit against the company, but not by name — California’s lawsuit reported that a female employee had been found dead at a company retreat after photographs of her genitals had been shared by other employees at a party. This female employee is revealed in this lawsuit to have been Activision Blizzard finance manager Kerri Moynihan.

The lawsuit was submitted to the Los Angeles Superior Court by her parents Paul and Janet Moynihan. It claims that Kerri Moynihan committed suicide as a result of workplace harassment she had experienced at the company, specifically naming male supervisor Greg Restituito. This same supervisor was also mentioned in California’s lawsuit, which calls Blizzard’s workplace culture “a breeding ground of harassment,” and that female employees “almost universally confirmed that working for [Blizzard] was akin to working in a frat house, which invariably involved male employees drinking and subjecting female employees to sexual harassment with no repercussion”. California’s lawsuit did not mention him by name, but alleged that he brought sex toys to the company retreat.

The wrongful death lawsuit further alleges that he hid evidence of the sexual relationship he had had with Moynihan to California investigators following her death, and it is further claimed that Activision Blizzard refused to provide Moynihan’s work laptop and phone to police looking into her death.

The lawsuit is suing for wrongful death, meaning Moynihan’s family is claiming that Blizzard is largely responsible for the suicide. Since employers generally have a duty of care towards their employees to provide a safe workplace, if the plaintiffs can demonstrate that Moynihan’s suicide was caused by workplace conditions that Blizzard had a duty to prevent, the lawsuit may be successful.