Employees at Activision Blizzard are walking out after allegations that CEO Bobby Kotick knew of the company’s sexual misconduct reports but did not inform his board, Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.
After the allegations were made public, Activision Blizzard staff began walking out, calling for the immediate resignation of Kotick along with corporate affairs vice president Frances Townsend and chief administrative officer Brian Bulato. Many current employees have had enough of management’s alleged lack of action.
“We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy,” the Activision Blizzard Workers Alliance said on Twitter. “We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source. We are staging a Walkout today. We welcome you to join us.”
Among those walking out is Jessica Gonzalez, a Senior Test Analyst at Activision Blizzard.
I am walking out today asking for the resignation of Bobby Kotick, Brian Bulato and Frances Townsend #actiblizzwalkout
— Jessica Gonzalez 💙 #ActiBlizzWalkout (@BlizzJess) November 16, 2021
“The Activision Blizzard Board remains committed to the goal of making Activision Blizzard the most welcoming and inclusive company in the industry,” Activision Blizzard said in a statement. “Under Bobby Kotick’s leadership the Company is already implementing industry leading changes including a zero tolerance harassment policy, a dedication to achieving significant increases to the percentages of women and non-binary people in our workforce and significant internal and external investments to accelerate opportunities for diverse talent. The board remains confident that Bobby Kotick appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention.”
In September, Blizzard renamed Overwatch’s cowboy hero because the character was named after a former employee caught up in the sexual harassment and discrimination allegations.
Written by Kyle Campbell on behalf of GLHF.
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