Between all the news Overwatch 2 and Diablo ImmortalActivision Blizzard has a document filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in which it confirms that, after an internal investigation, it concluded that its own board did not fail to act when it was accused of harassment.
“Contrary to many of the allegations, the board of directors and its outside advisors have determined that there is no evidence to suggest that Activision Blizzard senior executives ever deliberately ignored or attempted to cover the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were trivialized.” downplay,” Activision Blizzard writes. in the declaration.
The report acknowledges that there were issues within the company and that such a conclusion does little to alleviate the concerns of the injured party. “Indeed, a single case of someone feeling less at ease with Activision Blizzard is one too many,” it wrote. However, in a report from one of the consultants Activision has engaged Blizzard to review harassment reports and the company’s responses, the document states: “Based on the number of reports, the amount of misconduct reflected is relatively low for a company the size of Activision Blizzard.” It’s a bit strange to say “one is too many” in the same breath and then quote a consultant who says it could have been worse.
The filing continues with the programs the company has implemented to issue refunds. It cites the addition of a new diversity and inclusion manager, a program designed to train and attract workers from underrepresented areas, and the $18 million compensation fund established by the settlement with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. , or EEOC. (For reference Activision Blizzard reported) Duty alone the company made $3 billion in 2020.)
But in another “you just couldn’t say that,” the company took a swipe at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) — which tried to block the EEOC settlement because it could free the company from the state-owned case against it – and the media.
It must be said that the company has been the subject of a relentless stream of media criticism that attempts to paint the entire company (and many innocent employees) with the taint of a very small portion of our employee population engaged in bad behavior and were disciplined for that,” the company wrote. “Much of this has arisen with the very incendiary, made-for-press allegations of the DFEH.”
I think when a new accusation pops up almost daily with stories about… stolen breast milk, alcohol-powered “cube crawls,” the now infamous “Cosby suite,” the fact that the CEO probably knew everything, the board’s patent refusal to dismiss the CEO despite employee objections, three worker strikes, a strike and – let’s not forget – the ongoing cases of union breakdown for which there are at least two complaints from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), it can get pretty brutal. It’s also worth noting that while the DFEH filing raised public awareness of the “cube crawls” and the “Cosby suite”, many of the other allegations emerged from independent reporting and Activision Blizzard’s own current and former employees†