Activision Blizzard Employee Leaves As CEO Surrounded by Company — Again

Staff at Activision Blizzard is calling for the job of CEO Bobby Kotick after The Wall Street Journal drop one bombshell story on Tuesday, in which the newspaper reported that Kotick knew of the sexual misconduct and assault allegations but did not tell his board.

The story also raised allegations of harassment involving Kotick personally, including that he once left a voicemail for an assistant threatening to “kill her”. He eventually settled with the accuser, Journal Written. An Activision spokesman said Kotick had previously apologized for the “hypebol” comments.

More than 100 employees, many at Activision’s Santa Monica headquarters, joined a walkout Tuesday to protest the company’s leadership, a current employee told The Daily Beast.

In response to the incident, Activision took a defensive stance. The video game giant behind hit series like Call of Duty has published a declare decried the article as “misleading” and claimed that it “ignored the important changes underway to make this the most welcoming and friendly workplace in the industry.”

It’s essentially the same approach Activision took over the summer, when the State of California filed a harassment and sexism lawsuit against the company over its famously tolerating “brother and sister” culture. for “blatant sexual harassment without consequences.”

The lawsuit records some disturbing anecdotes, such as the case of a female employee who died by suicide after allegedly being abused. The male staff members are said to have shared a snap of her vagina together during a holiday party.

At the time the lawsuit was filed, an Activision spokeswoman called many of the claims “distorted” or untrue, while Frances Townsend, the company’s executive vice president of corporate affairs, described the case. litigation is “really unfair and irresponsible.”

Some employees were super excited by the reaction, and in July they organized a walk. “Statements being made do not reflect [feelings] of employees,” one worker told The Daily Beast over the summer.

The following month, Activision promoted Jennifer Oneal, an Asian-American and gay veteran, to co-director of Blizzard. That makes her “the first woman to lead one of the company’s business units,” Journal reported.

But she didn’t last long in the role. A few weeks later, she is said to have emailed someone in Acitivison’s legal department expressing her disappointment “that the company will never properly prioritize our people.

Oneal added about his experience at the company: “I have been scammed, marginalized and discriminated against. She resigned earlier this month.

NS Journal The report, citing internal documents and interviews with former Activision employees, found that Kotick was “aware of allegations of employee misconduct in various parts of the company” but had not act fully. Activision’s board was apparently “blinded” by the California lawsuit in July.

The board is still due to him stick. In a statement, the board members wrote that they remained “confident that Bobby Kotick had appropriately addressed the workplace issues that brought him to his attention” and that they believed he had ” leadership, commitment and ability” to further improve corporate culture.

The company “has been implementing industry-leading changes including a zero-tolerance harassment policy, striving to achieve significant increases in the proportion of women and non-binary people in the workforce.” our actions and significant internal and external investments to enhance opportunities for diverse talent,” they added.

That optimism clearly doesn’t align with some ranks and files. As part of the walk, activists repeat Their request for a third-party investigation of the company was selected by “employee-selected sources.”

Kotick, 58, bought a stake in Activision in the early 1990s when it was worth less than $500,000. His stock is now worth in nine figures – but Tuesday’s controversy took a toll on his fortune, as shares of Activision fell more than 6%.