A Wall Street Journal report sheds light on several new examples of misconduct by Activision employees, including rape and sexual harassment. The report also highlights a number of cases where Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was said to have known about the allegations but failed to notify the company’s board of directors and, in one case, intervened to stop an attacker. alleged harasser fired.
In response to the report, staff group A Better ABK has called for Kotick to be replaced as CEO and is holding an employee walkout.
This WSJ . latest report (requires free registration) continues the wave of accusations and some lawsuits together paint a picture of harassment and abuse in Activision Blizzard. Activision said it has received more than 500 reports from current and former employees alleging “harassment, sexual assault, bullying, pay disparity and other issues” since the State of California filed the complaint. sued the company in July.
The WSJ also viewed memos, emails, and talks with former employees, which suggests that Bobby Kotick knows more about allegations of employee misconduct than he previously indicated. there.
One of the stories in the report details Activision’s studio co-director Treyarch was accused of sexual harassment by a female employee in 2017. An internal investigation was conducted in 2019 by the department. The company’s own personnel and other supervisors recommended that he be fired, but Kotick intervened to keep him.
In another case, Activision reached an out-of-court settlement with a former Sledgehammer Games employee who alleged that she was raped by her male supervisor and, in another case, a The former Blizzard chief technology officer was fired after several years of sexual harassment allegations against other employees. Employees were asked not to discuss the circumstances of his departure, and an internal email sent by the then Blizzard CEO when the departing chief technology officer praised his “many contributions” to the company. . There are a number of previously unreported allegations in the article.
Within hours of publication, Activision Blizzard released a defensive statement which states that the Wall Street Journal article “presents a misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO.” They cite recent improvements made within the company, “including a zero-tolerance policy for inappropriate behaviour.”
Such a policy would likely prevent Kotick from continuing to take on the role of CEO.
“We have established our own Zero Tolerance Policy”, ABetterABK tweeted earlier today. ABetterABK – ABK stands for Activision Blizzard King – is a group of employees formed after this year’s allegations. “We will not be silent until Bobby Kotick is replaced as CEO and continue to uphold our original request for Third-Party review by an employee-selected source,” the tweet continued. . “We’re hosting a Walk today. We welcome you to join us.”
Activision Blizzard’s Board of Directors release their own statement, said that the board “remains confident in Bobby Kotick’s leadership, commitment, and ability to achieve” the goals of making Activision Blizzard “the most welcoming and inclusive company in the industry.”
In addition to detailing several new abuse cases within Activision Blizzard, the Wall Street Journal article also highlights several instances where Kotick herself has been sued for alleged misconduct. In 2006, one of his assistants “complained that he was harassing her, including threatening to kill her in a voicemail.” Kotick settles the matter out of court.
The article also details Activision Blizzard’s response since the allegations went public earlier this year.
After the State of California filed a lawsuit against the company, Fran Townsend, chief executive officer of Activision Blizzard, sent an email to employees, which classified the lawsuit as depicting “a distorted and untrue picture.” about the company and is “really unfair and irresponsible.” This email led to a large amount of public criticism. The Wall Street Journal reported that the email was written by Mr. Kotick and sent by Townsend – one of the company’s few female executives – at his request.
The WSJ also saw an internal email from Jennifer Oneal to Activision’s legal team. In the email, Oneal, who was appointed co-head of Blizzard Entertainment earlier this year only to resign within three months, expressed a lack of confidence in the company’s management. She wrote that she had been sexually harassed earlier in her career at the company, that she was paid less than the main Blizzard actor, and that she had been “cheated, ripped off. marginalized and discriminated against.”
It’s surprising – but somehow unsurprising – that at this point, Activision Blizzard’s board of directors, who still believe in Bobby Kotick’s leadership. ABetterABK put it well: The board will also be complicit if they let this slide. “
