Activision Blizzard itself finds no evidence of systematic misconduct

There is no evidence of systematic misconduct within Activision Blizzard. The company concludes this based on its own research and discussions with independent experts. The number of reports of misconduct at the company is relatively low, according to the research.

“Contrary to many of the allegations, the board and its outside advisors have been unable to find evidence that senior executives have ever knowingly ignored or downplayed reports of gender harassment,” writes Activision Blizzard. Also, no evidence was found that board members or employees knowingly withheld information from the company’s board, writes Activision Blizzard based on internal documents, reports and conversations with current and former colleagues, and experts.

The fact that the investigation shows that board members have not withheld any information from the board is striking, since The Wall Street Journal wrote in November that Activisions CEO Bobby Kotick did just that. Kotick would have failed to report several reports of sexual misconduct to the board. In the document disclosed Friday, Activision Blizzard does not comment on the newspaper’s article.

One of the experts consulted is Gilbert Casellas. In the 1990s, Casellas was a director of the EEOC, a committee dedicated to equality in the workplace. Activision Blizzard asked Casellas to look at all reports the company has of gender harassment from September 2016 to the end of 2021. Based on these reports, Casellas says there has been no large-scale abuse or systematic abuse in the workplace. The number of reports would also be relatively small for a company the size of Activision Blizzard, Casellas said.

The company also points out that it has taken various measures in recent years to prevent abuse in the future. Activision Blizzard acknowledges that these measures cannot change the past, but also says it has recently been the target of “sustained media criticism” based on a “very small proportion of our employees who engaged in bad behavior and were disciplined for it.” .

Activision Blizzard argues that the source of this media criticism would be the California State Department of Fair Employment and Housing. This sued Activision Blizzard last year because of a “culture of sexual harassment” in which women are said to be discriminated against in various ways. Women would be promoted less quickly because they could become pregnant and pumping rooms would be used by male colleagues for meetings. An employee is said to have killed herself during a business trip, partly because nude photos of her were distributed.

Since this lawsuit, more than twenty employees have been fired and a special committee has been set up to improve the working atmosphere. At the same time, pressure remained on Activision Blizzard’s board, which allegedly ignored reports of inappropriate behavior. The company says on the basis of its own research that there is no evidence for this and that this criticism is based on nothing. “Activision Blizzard executives responded in a timely manner and with integrity to improve the workplace. While there have been some substantiated instances of gender harassment, those unfortunate circumstances do not support the conclusion that Activision Blizzard’s board knew about or tolerated gender harassment. there has ever been a systematic problem of harassment, discrimination or retaliation,” the company writes.