- Lawsuits continue as Activision Blizzard makes large changes to their staff
- Over 40 employees have faced some kind of punishment, with over 20 being fired
- Activision Blizzard has a new more transparent policy, trying to clean up its act
Lawsuits against Blizzard continue and following some of them, about 40 employees have been disciplined with more than 20 being fired due to their workplace misconduct.
Activision Blizzard’s Employee Misconduct
For some time now Blizzard has been involved in several lawsuits against some of their employees, who are accused of sexual misconduct at the workplace. One of the lawsuits is from the State of California and another is from the Communication Workers of America Union.
The case involving the State of California follows a two-year investigation, which claims the company has a “pervasive frat-boy culture”, which was filed in July. Ever since then, the company has been changing its staff.
On October 19 the company announced to The Financial Times its recent wave of staff changes in a letter to the paper. Later on, Fran Townsend, Activision Blizzard’s Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs, said that they “are working tirelessly to ensure that, moving forward, this is a place where people are not only heard but empowered.”
Activision Blizzard Comes Out with New Policies
The company has outlined three main points that they will aim towards: Firing employees “who fail to contribute to a positive culture”, being transparent, and investing resources into training.
According to Townsend, who posted a memo on the company’s website, over 40 Activision Blizzard employees have faced some form of “disciplinary action” with over half of them being fired. He also said that from now on the company will strive to be more transparent about such investigations.
Townsend said “We know there’s a desire to know about the outcome when misconduct is reported. Sometimes, there are privacy reasons we can’t share. But where we can, we will be sharing more information with you.”
Blizzard will also focus on training its new employees at all levels in a “meaningful” way. Towsend explained that the company is preparing to triple its investment in training resources. This should encompass bystander training, speaking up, and training managers to recognize concerns and understand their obligations to escalate situations urgently and appropriately.
Towsend also added that because of said changes, people have started speaking up more and reports of harassment at Activision Blizzard have increased in recent months.
“People are bringing to light concerns, ranging from years ago to the present. We welcome these reports, and our team has been working to investigate them, using a combination of internal and external resources,” said Towsend.
