Within Activision Blizzard, there is no evidence of systematic misconduct. The company concludes this on the basis of its own research and discussions with independent experts. The number of reports of misconduct at the company is relatively low, the survey shows.
Contrary to many of the allegations, the board and its outside advisors have been unable to find any evidence that senior executives have ever knowingly ignored or downplayed reports of gender harassment. writes Activision Blizzard† Also, no evidence was found that board members or employees deliberately withheld information from the board of the company, Activision Blizzard writes, based on internal documents, reports and conversations with current and former colleagues, and experts.
The fact that the investigation shows that board members have not withheld any information from the board is striking, since The Wall Street Journal in November wrote that Activisions CEO Bobby Kotick has done just that. Kotick allegedly failed to report multiple reports of sexual misconduct to the board. In the document revealed Friday, Activision Blizzard does not comment on the paper’s article.
One of the experts consulted is Gilbert Casellas. In the 1990s, Casellas was a director of the EEOC, a committee that promotes equality in the workplace. Activision Blizzard asked Casellas to review all reports the company has of gender harassment from September 2016 to the end of 2021. Based on these reports, Casellas says there has been no widespread or systematic abuse in the workplace. The number of reports would also be relatively small for a company the size of Activision Blizzard, according to Casellas.
The company also points out that it has taken various measures in recent years to prevent abuse in the future. Activision Blizzard acknowledges that these measures cannot change the past, but also says it has recently been the target of “continued media criticism” based on a “very small proportion of our employees who have engaged in bad behavior and have been punished for it” .
Activision Blizzard states that the source of this media criticism would be the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing. This sued Activision Blizzard last year over a “culture of sexual harassment” that allegedly discriminated against women in various ways. Women would be less likely to be promoted because they could become pregnant and pumping rooms would be used by male colleagues for meetings. An employee is said to have taken his own life during a business trip, partly because nude photos of her were distributed.
Since this lawsuit, more than twenty employees have been fired and a special committee has been set up to improve the working atmosphere. At the same time, the pressure on Activision Blizzard’s board of directors remained strong for allegedly ignoring reports of inappropriate behavior. The company says based on its own research that there is no evidence for this and that this criticism is based on nothing. “Activision Blizzard directors responded in time and with integrity to improve the workplace. While there have been some substantiated cases of gender harassment, those unfortunate circumstances do not support the conclusion that the Activision Blizzard board knew about or tolerated gender harassment, or that there was once a systematic problem of harassment, discrimination or revenge,” the company writes.