Activision Blizzard agreed to pay $35 million to settle charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which found that the Call of Duty maker violated whistleblower regulations and had no recourse for employees who experienced discrimination. The SEC announced the outcome in a statement, which comes after nearly two years of scrutiny following several lawsuits and allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination against the company.
“The SEC’s order finds that Activision Blizzard failed to implement necessary controls to collect and review employee complaints about workplace misconduct, which left it without the means to determine whether larger issues existed that needed to be disclosed to investors,” said Jason Burt, director of the SEC’s regional office in Denver.
Activision Blizzard made several structural alterations in response to the lawsuits and demands from the unofficial workers’ organization ABK Workers Alliance, including removing staff accused of harassment and discrimination and making changes to the process of reporting misconduct.
The SEC also ruled that Blizzard violated whistleblower protection laws by requiring employees to alert management if the SEC contacted them to collect information.
“Taking action to impede former employees from communicating directly with the Commission staff about a possible securities law violation is not only bad corporate governance, it is illegal,” Burt said.
Along with the settlement fee, Activision Blizzard agreed to a cease-and-desist order related to the SEC’s findings – but neither admitted to or denied the charges. In 2022, Activision Blizzard paid $18 million into a fund for employees involved in the proceedings as a settlement, also without admitting to the charges.
Microsoft is currently attempting to acquire Activision Blizzard, though is facing challenges from the FTC and European Union.
Written by Josh Broadwell on behalf of GLHF
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