Activision Blizzard reportedly sued for wrongful death of employee

Content Warning: This story contains discussions of suicide and sexual violence

According to a new report from the Washington Post, Activision Blizzard is now being sued by the family of a former employee named Kerri Moynihan who killed herself in 2017 while working at ABK. According to the complaint, which was filed by Paul and Janet Moynihan, her treatment at ABK by her supervisor and other co-workers was a factor in her early death.

Moynihan, who worked as a finance manager for the company, was mentioned in the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing lawsuit against the company back in 2021 that alleges ABK maintained a work environment of rampant sexual harassment and discrimination. According to the Washington Post's latest report, after accessing the new complaint from her family's lawyers, the family is blaming her former supervisor Greg Restituito's alleged sexual harassment for her death and also alleges that he lied to detectives about his relationship with the Moynihan.

Within the DFEH's original complaint, where Moynihan's family claims to have first learned about the sexual harassment that led up to her death, the DFEH alleged that her supervisor brought sex toys with him on a business trip with Moynihan, as well as claimed that employees passed around non-consensual nude pictures of her at a holiday party in the lead up to her suicide. According to the lawsuit, she reportedly killed herself while at the business trip retreat after speaking with Restitutio in the lobby of the hotel.

The WP also reported that the new lawsuit claims ABK has refused to turn over evidence like Moynihan's company laptop or Restiutio's laptop, in addition to alleging that Restitutio sought to hide the evidence of his relationship with her following her suicide, including allegedly lying to the Anaheim police about why he had his hotel key card in her hotel room during their investigation of the incident.

In response to the original allegations from the DFEH regarding Moynihan's death, ABK responded saying: "We are sickened by the reprehensible conduct of the DFEH to drag into the complaint the tragic suicide of an employee whose passing has no bearing whatsoever on this case and with no regard for her grieving family."