Melanie Proctor, assistant chief counsel for the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, has resigned from her position in the Activision suit. Proctor is protesting the abrupt firing of Chief Counsel Janette Wipper by California Governor Gavin Newsom.
The report from Bloomberg mentions that Governor Newsom had begun to interfere with the investigation and lawsuit against mega-publisher Activision. The Office of the Governor repeatedly demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of next steps in the litigation,” Proctor said in an email obtained by Bloomberg. “As we continued to win in state court, this interference increased, mimicking the interests of Activision’s counsel.”
According to Wipper’s spokeswoman, Alexis Ronickher, she is “evaluating all avenues of legal recourse including a claim under the California Whistleblower Protection Act.”
A spokesperson for the Governor’s office declined to comment. DFEH will continue to vigorously enforce California’s civil rights and fair housing laws,” they said.
Just two weeks ago, Activision settled with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for $18 million regarding a separate lawsuit. The company has been dealing with issues regarding sexual harassment, mistreatment of workers, and frat-boy culture and toxicity following the original bomb-shell allegations. Reports of Newsom interfering with the lawsuit and investigation only add to a list of troubling concerns for the company, which is being bought by Microsoft. That acquisition has its own issues and concerns when it comes to insider trading.
