Editor’s Note: A lawsuit has been filed against Activision Blizzard by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, which alleges the company has engaged in abuse, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees. Activision Blizzard has denied the allegations. The full details of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit (content warning: rape, suicide, abuse, harassment) are being updated as new information becomes available.
The Activision Blizzard workplace harassment and discrimination controversy has a taken a turn, as nearly 1,000 of the company’s employees have voiced their support for the lawsuit. Games publisher Activision Blizzard denies claims made in the state of California’s lawsuit, filed on July 20, 2021. However, there seems to be a rift in the company between executives and the rest of the employees.
The lawsuit alleges that Activision Blizzard fostered a “frat boy” culture that enabled serious offenses by its employees, including sexual harassment, abuse, and discrimination. Many players are protesting and voicing their anger at Blizzard figures named in the lawsuit. It seems that players are not the only ones who are dissatisfied with Activision Blizzard’s culture and response to these allegations, however.
On Monday, Bloomberg reported that an letter demanding change and addressed “To the Leaders of Activision Blizzard” has been signed by almost 1,000 current and former employees. According to Bloomberg, at the end of 2020, Activision Blizzard’s employee count was around 9,500. The letter appears to be a response to several internal Activision Blizzard emails. The letter references a message from Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women’s Network and Chief Compliance Officer Frances Townsend, in which she spoke largely in favor of the company and against the validity of the lawsuit’s claims. In the open letter, some of Townsend’s statements are deemed “simply unacceptable.” The letter also demands that Townsend step down from her position in the ABK Employee Women’s Network. Uppercut also reports that in a Monday Zoom meeting of 500 employees, COO Joshua Taub said, “The note from [Frances Townsend] wasn’t the right communication.”
NEW: Nearly 1,000 current/former Activision Blizzard employees have signed an open letter calling the company’s response to the discrimination lawsuit “abhorrent and insulting.”
“We will not be silenced, we will not stand aside, and we will not give up” https://t.co/cIWYSinPhw
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) July 26, 2021
Current and former employees of Activision Blizzard have signed a letter to the company’s executives calling out the statements issued over the California lawsuit.
Here’s the letter that over 1,000 current/former employees signed. (source: @jasonschreier/ Bloomberg) pic.twitter.com/RL9KibyxYR
— CharlieIntel – Call of Duty News (@charlieINTEL) July 26, 2021
As current and former Activision Blizzard employees continue releasing statements, more information that wasn’t reported in the lawsuit will likely be uncovered. Employees’ open letter does not comment on which of the lawsuit’s allegations are true or false, but the signees are clearly dissatisfied with the company’s the work culture and its public attitude towards the lawsuit.
Meanwhile, others in the industry have begun to reflect on their own cultures in light of the allegations against Activision Blizzard. In the wake of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit, Bungie made an anti-toxicity pledge to its workforce, expressing a desire for a “more welcoming and inclusive” workplace.
Sources: Bloomberg, Uppercut, Jason Schreier/Twitter, CharlieIntel/Twitter
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