A lawsuit from investors, problems in the HR department and a Cat's speech: how is the situation with Activision Blizzard developing

Activision Blizzard is facing a class action lawsuit from investors who have suffered losses due to falling shares amid the harassment scandal. Bobby Kotick, meanwhile, assured that the company will soon change and become an example for the entire industry. And the employees talked about how the HR department systematically hushed up the problems.

The second lawsuit against Activision Blizzard

On August 3, Rosen Law Firm filed a class action lawsuit in the District Court of Central California. The plaintiffs were a group of investors who accuse the company of hiding information about harassment and discrimination against women.

Key claims from the lawsuit:

• investors did not know that Activision Blizzard had been harassing women and minorities for a long time;
• management and personnel ignored numerous complaints of illegal harassment and discrimination;
• the spread of a toxic culture can cause serious damage to the company’s operating activities;
• Activision Blizzard failed to inform investors in a timely manner that the company was being investigated for harassment in the workplace;
• as a result, management’s statements about business development and financial prospects were false and misleading.

According to investors, after the publication of the harassment lawsuit, they suffered significant financial losses. Now they are demanding damages from Activision Blizzard in the amount prescribed by law.

After the lawsuit from the state of California and the reaction of employees, the company’s shares really lost value. Investors also claim that the publisher’s management — including Bobby Kotick — knew about the problems and deliberately underestimated their scale in front of shareholders.

Bobby Kotick on the eradication of harassment

The CEO of Activision Blizzard once again addressed the problem of discrimination and harassment during a conversation with investors following the results of the second financial quarter. Here are the key points from his speech:

• The cat noted that the company appreciates all current and former employees who dared to report problems;
• “We will become a company that will serve as an example for the entire industry,” he said and stressed that Activision Blizzard will not tolerate harassment and inequality in any form;
• The first step on the way to change is the new leadership of Blizzard in the person of Jennifer Oneal and Mike Ybarra. Read more about them and the resignation of President Jay Allen Brack (J. Allen Brack) in our material;
• The cat separately thanked one of the founders of Blizzard, Allen Adham, who returned to the company after 12 years. Now he heads the department of new product development and IP;
• “I am sure that this team will make sure that Blizzard provides a welcoming, comfortable and safe workspace necessary for creativity and inspiration,” said Kotick;
• Activision Blizzard will investigate every employee complaint and bring those responsible to justice. The company intends to dismiss not only the guilty employees, but also every manager who violated corporate rules;
• compliance with diversity in the selection of candidates for open vacancies will be one of the priorities of Activision Blizzard — additional resources will be allocated for this;
• the company intends to improve the operation of channels through which employees can report violations and allocate additional funds for the work of internal investigation departments;
• The CEO of Activision Blizzard also noted that the company regularly reviews salaries to comply with the principle of equal pay in the same positions.

“I give you my word that our priority will remain to provide our players with the best service and ensure the company’s sustainable growth. We will take all necessary actions to develop a corporate culture that supports and welcomes all our employees,” said Kotick at the end of his speech.

A new letter from employees to management

A group of employees from different Activision Blizzard studios created an “Alliance of Workers”. On behalf of the coalition, they sent a letter to Bobby Kotik demanding that he refuse to cooperate with the WilmerHale law firm.

This company is also known for its struggle with trade unions. For example, her actions led to the fact that Amazon employees in Alabama unexpectedly voted against the idea of uniting and fighting for their rights. Activision Blizzard’s “Alliance of Workers” fears that this could happen to their company as well.

Earlier, Kotik said that WilmerHale will assess the company’s internal processes and help create a favorable working atmosphere. However, the coalition of employees notes that the law firm will not be able to conduct an independent examination due to the long-term working relationship with Activision Blizzard.

The Workers’ Alliance demanded to abandon cooperation with WilmerHale. The employees also want the Cat to stop ignoring the previously voiced requirements and take steps to solve the existing problems.

Problems in the HR department

Current and former Activision Blizzard employees told Axios that the HR department has become one of the main factors in the emergence of problems within the company.

• Sources of the publication said that numerous complaints were documented by personnel. However, instead of protecting employees, Activision Blizzard’s management covered up the culprits.
• One of the employees noted that the HR department discouraged employees from filing complaints and warned that this game was not worth the candle.
• According to employees, the HR department was skeptical of incoming complaints, downplayed the importance of problems and even mocked the victims of harassment.
• One of the employees noted that her career growth stopped after she complained about her manager.
• According to Axios sources, the main problem of the HR department could be a large turnover of personnel. Some specialists stayed in the company for only a few months, and the personnel officers who came to their place had to re-understand the context of the problems that had already accumulated.
• One of the former Blizzard employees said that many complaints were not even made out on paper. Employees simply expressed their dissatisfaction, after which the HR department could safely forget about the appeals.
• Another big problem is the lack of privacy. According to the former employee, HR specialists calmly talked about complaints to other people in the company.
• As a result, Activision Blizzard developed a “clan mentality”: an atmosphere of fraternity reigned at work, and the HR department covered the perpetrators and wrote off harassment as a joke.

Axios has requested a comment from the company. Her official position is slightly different from the information in the article. According to a representative of Activision Blizzard, if employees are not satisfied with the work of the HR department, they can say so directly. The company has other channels for reporting complaints, including anonymous ones.

According to Axios, in January Activision Blizzard also left the head of HR department Jesse Meschuk (Jesse Meschuk). He has been working for the company since 2009.

In light of recent events, the company’s employees believe that the time for apologies is over. They call on Activision Blizzard to fire all employees caught in harassment and make sure that they will never be able to work in the gaming industry again.