Activision Blizzard's (ATVI) rocky year had just been starting to even out after two of the major lawsuits filed against the video game publisher were finished.
One lawsuit that alleged instances of sexual harassment within the company was resolved with an $18 million settlement in March 2022, seemingly closing the door on one of the publisher's biggest issues over the past year.
The second involved investors that were unhappy with the plans for the sale, claiming that it was unfair because it claimed that Activision Blizzard tried to “procure for themselves and senior management [...] significant and immediate benefits."
The lawsuit was dismissed in mid-April after a U.S. District Court Judge said there weren't enough facts present in the allegations to support the conclusion.
That brought the total number of lawsuits the company is facing to to 13 — it was 15 before four were consolidated down to two — per Activision Blizzard's latest quarterly filing.
With a stack of sexual allegations in its wake and an improvement plan in place, the company reduced CEO Bobby Kotick's base salary to the lowest possible amount of $62,500.
It seemed as if Activision had been hit hard enough to take some serious steps towards changing the way the company worked.
The situation became even more interesting when Microsoft (MSFT) announced its intent to acquire Activision Blizzard in a $68.7 billion deal.
That effectively transformed Microsoft into one of the top three biggest players in the video game industry.
But now a new lawsuit alleges there are problems with the Microsoft deal and that Kotick's involvement should be more deeply scrutinized.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images/TS
What's The New Activision Lawsuit About?
As reported by Axios, the latest lawsuit was filed on April 26 in Delaware by New York City Employees’ Retirement System.
These groups, which include teachers, members of the police force, and firefighters, are also shareholders of Activision Blizzard stock.
The City of New York is asking Activision Blizzard to supply documentation regarding the upcoming Microsoft sale, saying it believes that Kotick's actions have caused the company's value to drop.
It also alleges that Microsoft's offer of $95 a share undervalues the company, and that Kotick moved quickly to try to offload Activision Blizzard to Microsoft in an effort to escape liability for misconduct.
“Given Kotick’s personal responsibility and liability for Activision’s broken workplace, it should have been clear to the Board that he was unfit to negotiate a sale of the Company,” the suit says. “But it wasn’t."
Axios writer Stephen Totilo, who reported the breaking story, also shared via Twitter a full list of the lawsuits and investigations currently ongoing against the company.
Activision Blizzard replied to TheStreet's request for comment, saying, "We disagree with the allegations made in this complaint and look forward to presenting our arguments to the Court.”
