One of the main lawyers in California's discrimination and harassment case against the company resigned due to interference by the office of the governor.
The assistant chief counsel for California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing resigned Tuesday, saying that the office of the governor demanded advance notice of litigation strategy and of next steps in the litigation.
According to the resignation letter, Chief Counsel Janette Wipper tried to protect the agency's autonomy to prosecute, but she INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals INRDeals
She wrote that justice should be administered equally, not favoring those with political influence.
The office of Governor Newsom referred reporters to a spokesman for the Department of Family and Children's Services, who refused to comment on personnel matters. A representative for Wipper confirmed in a statement to Ars Technica that Wipper was promoted to the position of Director of the Department of Family and Children's Health in spite of the fact that the Director of the Department of Family and Children's Health terminated her role on March 29th She is considering filing a claim under the California Whistleblower Protection Act.
AdvertisementThe initial lawsuit was filed in July of 2021. The suits interviews confirmed that working for Defendants was akin to working in a frat house.
In the months that followed, the SEC opened up an investigation into the allegations, as well as whether the company failed to properly disclose what it knew about discrimination, sexual harassment, and other personnel issues to shareholders. The investigation began one month after the lawsuit was filed.
The federal case that was settled by September was related to pay disparity and harassment allegations. The amount of the settlement was less than half a percent of the company's revenue in 2020.
In the wake of the settlement, the company pushed back against the lawsuit, claiming that the lawyers for the state of California were involved in the federal case. The September federal settlement for having a potential prejudicial impact on its ability to enforce California state law was decried by the DFEH. A federal judge in February denied the company's attempts to delay the settlement.
Wipper led high-profile cases against major California tech firms before she was fired. Her agency filed a complaint against Riot Games over allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, and pay disparity. A lawsuit was filed against the company in February of this year, accusing them of widespread racial discrimination.
After it announced its acquisition deal with Microsoft, the future fortunes of the company shifted wildly. The move was followed by an SEC investigation over allegations of insider trading.
Kyle was involved in this report.
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