Over 30 homosexual Activision Blizzard employees have 'exited' since July, WSJ reports

[Robbie Huerta]

37 Activision Blizzard employees have reportedly “exited” the company
since July of last year as part of the company’s attempt to crack down on
issues surrounding sexual harassment, according to internal documents
obtained by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Activision Blizzard
spokesperson Helaine Klasky also told the WSJ that 44 individuals were
disciplined in connection with workplace misconduct allegations.

These numbers likely include the more than 20 workers that exited the
company in October, along with around 20 workers who the company
reprimanded at the time. The WSJ also notes that Activision Blizzard
collected around 700 employee complaints describing concerns about
workplace misconduct. Activision Blizzard was reportedly set to release a
report summarizing the results of its ongoing investigation towards the
end of last year, but WSJ reports that CEO Bobby Kotick refused, saying it
would amplify the company’s issues and make them seem worse than they are.

“Across Activision Blizzard, our team is working tirelessly so that every
employee feels safe, equal, heard and empowered,” Activision Blizzard
spokesperson Rich George told The Verge. “Whether a comment about culture,
an incident or suggested improvements, every single report that the
company receives matters, and we have significantly increased the
resources available to ensure that we can quickly and thoroughly look into
each one.” George also confirmed that the company has completed reviews of
over 90 percent of employee reports since July, and describes Kotick’s
alleged refusal to release this information as “inaccurate.”

Last July, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH)
sued Activision Blizzard for promoting a culture of “constant sexual
harassment.” Since then, numerous employees have come forward with their
own experiences with sexual misconduct at the company, alleging that
management was aware of and potentially encouraged the behavior. The
company reached an $18 million settlement with the US Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission in September, but the DFEH has recently appealed
the judge’s decision that prevents it from intervening.

Kotick has also been personally accused of abusive behavior in November,
and despite this, the company’s board still expressed confidence in his
leadership. Shortly after, over 1,500 employees signed a petition to
remove Kotick as CEO, who only said he would consider stepping down if the
company’s toxic work culture couldn’t be fixed “with speed.”

Disclosure: Casey Wasserman is on the board of directors for Activision
Blizzard as well as the board of directors of Vox Media, The Verge’s
parent company.

Update January 17th 4:10PM ET: Added a statement and additional context
received from an Activision Blizzard spokesperson.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/17/22887855/activision-blizzard-employees-
fired-sexual-harassment-misconduct-controversy