Earlier this year, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed an anti-discrimination lawsuit against the video game company Activision Blizzard. The lawsuit was brought on behalf of women who allegedly experienced harassment and a hostile work environment and who did not receive fair pay while working for the company. This month, the DFEH expanded the lawsuit to include not only former employees but also women who had worked for Activision Blizzard on a temporary basis, as independent contractors. One of the changes DFEH made in the amended complaint was to refer to the plaintiffs as “workers” instead of “employees,” since the company did not classify all of them as employees. This lawsuit is a manifestation of two widespread problems. The first is the “frat boy” culture of entitlement and sexual harassment, which is widely documented in California’s video game industry. The second is an even more pervasive problem, that of the gig economy, where employers classify as many workers as possible as independent contractors in order to avoid giving them the basic rights due to employees. If a former employee or former independent contractor is suing your company or threatening to sue your company for discrimination, contact a San Diego business law attorney.
Employment Protections for Non-Employee Workers
Many women who worked for Activision Blizzard, whether full time or on a temporary basis, felt that the company treated them unfairly. They characterized their work environment as a “video game bro” culture, where sexual harassment and disrespectful treatment of women were frequent occurrences. The company gave the women who worked there an unsustainably heavy workload, while paying them less than it paid men who did less work. At first, the women tried to resolve the issue by bringing their complaints to administrators within the company, but the administrators did not seem to take the matter seriously. Therefore, they brought their complaints to the DFEH, which filed the referenced lawsuit.
Protection against employment discrimination is not just for employees who receive a W-2 at the end of each tax year. If this were not the case, employers could get around the law by only hiring independent contractors and issuing 1099s to everyone. This is why workers, whether they are employees or independent contractors, have the right to file a discrimination complaint if their employer treats them unfairly based on their race, gender, religion, nationality, age, or disability (these are known as “protected characteristics”). Paying a worker less because of a protected characteristic is a form of discrimination, as is workplace harassment and retaliating against workers who complain about discrimination.
Contact Foldenauer Law Group About Employment Discrimination Complaints
Employment discrimination lawsuits take a long time and have many steps. The sooner you hire a lawyer, the better. A business dispute lawyer can help you resolve conflicts with employees who allege workplace discrimination, before or after the employees notify the DFEH of their complaints. Contact Foldenauer Law Group, APLC in San Diego, California to discuss your case.