Maker of Call of Duty was accused of illegally dismissing employees
2023.03.01 12:55
Maker of Call of Duty was accused of illegally dismissing employees
By Kristina Sobol
Budrigannews.com – Activision Blizzard Inc., creator of “Call of Duty,” (NASDAQ:) has been accused by a union of illegally firing two video game testers in protest of a new company policy that restricts remote work for using “strong language.”
The Communication Workers of America (CWA) union claimed on Tuesday that it sought the workers’ reinstatement by filing a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
As part of a campaign to unionize the company and its subsidiaries, the union has brought this case to the labor board for the most recent time. The decision to join the CWA was made last year by small groups of game testers at three Activision subsidiaries.
Microsoft Corporation is attempting to acquire Activision for $69 billion, but U.S. regulators have filed a lawsuit to prevent the acquisition.
The Santa Monica, California-based Activision was accused by the labor board of threatening employees who posted about their working conditions on social media and withholding raises from pro-union workers, both of which the company denies.
On Wednesday, a request for information was made, but Activision did not respond immediately.
The union says that Activision said last month that its employees would have to go to work three days a week starting in April. This ends a policy that had allowed for more flexible schedules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the CWA, employees were overwhelmingly against the change, and Activision fired two game testers who “expressed their outrage using strong language.”
The CWA suggested that the labor board, which is led by Democrats, could use the case to revisit a ruling that was made in 2020 by a Republican majority that limited legal protections for workers who use vulgar or offensive language in workplace disputes.
In a statement, CWA Secretary-Treasurer Sara Steffens said, “Workers should have the right to express themselves when faced with unfair treatment by unscrupulous employers like Activision.”
