Tod Seelie
On the Clock is Motherboard's reporting on the organized labor movement, gig work, automation, and the future of work.
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"What’s the law firm likely to do? In most cases, the law firm comes in, has conversations with workers and management and tries to get to the bottom of what happened and make suggestions," said Janice Fine, a professor of labor and employment relations at Rutgers University. "This brings up issues about power and asymmetry of power," she continued. "The idea of one side bringing in a law firm that has a reputation of being opposed to how workers address the asymmetry of power in the workplace through union organizing is not encouraging. They might have smart people at the law firm, but what power will workers have to determine the remedy?"According to the lawsuit, high-ranking managers at the company engaged in blatant sexual harassment without repercussions. Asked if WilmerHale is advising Activision Blizzard on labor organizing at the company, Frank James, a firm spokesperson said via email, "The firm has extensive experience assessing workplace culture and helping organizations strengthen their workplace environments by making improvements to their governance, policies, and procedures around discrimination, harassment, and retaliation issues."Activision Blizzard did not respond to a question about whether the law firm is advising the company on labor organizing related matters.Lieberwitz said that workers' decision to take collective action certainly has already had an enormous impact on pushing the company to make changes. "I don't think any of this would have happened without the collective action of employees, going to the government, going to the press, making statements and walking out. I think employees acting together can realize how powerful their collective action can be and lead workers to say 'what's the next step?' Unionization is often an important collective next step."Do you have a tip to share with us about working conditions at Activision Blizzard? Please get in touch with the reporter Lauren via email lauren.gurley@vice.com or on via text/Signal 201-897-2109.