A whole lot of Activision Blizzard staff have signed a letter (revealed by Bloomberg, Polygon, and Kotaku) that rebukes the corporate’s response to California’s allegations that Activision Blizzard has a discriminatory work tradition and points with sexual harassment. The corporate’s response to the lawsuit, which paints a particularly upsetting image of its tradition and the way girls are handled there, has largely been to disclaim the allegations.
Of their letter, which might be learn beneath, the staff say that response “creates an organization environment that disbelieves victims,” they usually name for “instant corrections” from the corporate’s prime leaders.
The letter was written in response to each public and inside statements made by Activision Blizzard and its executives in response to the California Division of Honest Employment and Housing lawsuit towards the corporate. A part of the corporate’s public response to the lawsuit was to name the state’s swimsuit “irresponsible conduct from unaccountable State bureaucrats which are driving lots of the State’s finest companies out of California.” The staff’ letter additionally calls on government Fran Townsend to step down from her function as sponsor for the corporate’s girls’s community after she despatched an e mail that claimed the lawsuit painted an “unfaithful image” of the corporate’s tradition and known as it “meritless.”
Polygon reviews that the letter has gotten over 800 signatures, with Bloomberg placing the quantity at “practically 1,000.” Activision Blizzard reported that it had round 9,500 staff in December 2020, so both of these estimates would doubtless put the rely north of 8 p.c of the corporate. Activision Blizzard didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The letter might be learn in full beneath:
To the Leaders of Activision Blizzard,
We, the undersigned, agree that the statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their authorized counsel concerning the DFEH lawsuit, in addition to the next inside assertion from Frances Townsend, are abhorrent and insulting to all that we consider our firm ought to stand for. To place it clearly and unequivocally, our values as staff should not precisely mirrored within the phrases and actions of our management.
We consider these statements have broken our ongoing quest for equality inside and out of doors of our business. Categorizing the claims which have been made as “distorted, and in lots of instances false” creates an organization environment that disbelieves victims. It additionally casts doubt on our organizations’ potential to carry abusers accountable for his or her actions and foster a secure surroundings for victims to return ahead sooner or later. These statements make it clear that our management isn’t placing our values first. Fast corrections are wanted from the very best stage of our group.
Our firm executives have claimed that actions will likely be taken to guard us, however within the face of authorized motion — and the troubling official responses that adopted — we now not belief that our leaders will place worker security above their very own pursuits. To say this can be a “actually meritless and irresponsible lawsuit,” whereas seeing so many present and former staff converse out about their very own experiences concerning harassment and abuse, is solely unacceptable.
We name for official statements that acknowledge the seriousness of those allegations and exhibit compassion for victims of harassment and assault. We name on Frances Townsend to face by her phrase to step down as Government Sponsor of the ABK Worker Girls’s Community because of the damaging nature of her assertion. We name on the chief management group to work with us on new and significant efforts that guarantee staff — in addition to our group — have a secure place to talk out and are available ahead.
We stand with all our mates, teammates, and colleagues, in addition to the members of our devoted group, who’ve skilled mistreatment or harassment of any sort. We won’t be silenced, we won’t stand apart, and we won’t surrender till the corporate we love is a office we will all really feel proud to be part of once more. We would be the change.
