At the center of many scandals over the past few months, Activision Blizzard has been in the midst of restructuring its workforce. According to the Wall Street Journal, the company has actually fired nearly 40 people and taken disciplinary action against others since last July. Measures confirmed by the American publisher, who, at the request of Bobby Kotick, should not leak these cases
Concrete actions…
In July 2021, the California Department of Jobs and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard. The company was then singled out on allegations of sexual harassment, moral harassment, or even discrimination for serious dysfunction. An action that quickly put pressure on the publisher, who then made a commitment to their employees to punish employees, in particular for inappropriate or toxic behavior.
Six months later, The Wall Street Journal reports that about 700 warnings have been issued to management over the past few months, some relating to the same events. A number that Activision Blizzard denies, however, which also specifies that these statements include all possible reports. The editor assures that in many cases, then, these are minor concerns unrelated to the issue of toxic behavior in the workplace, and that a “small number” are actually more sensitive.
As a result, Activision Blizzard has terminated or found out about 37 of its employees in the past six months. Sanctions imposed, accompanied by 44 disciplinary measures, all formulated in relation to allegations of harassment or discrimination affecting the publisher. And if we can be happy about those choices, however, the shadow of Bobby Kotick comes to blacken this image.
Bobby Kotick wants to keep that secret.
Also according to the Wall Street Journal, the CEO of Activision Blizzard would have liked to keep these elements confidential. For the man, the advanced numbers would be important to keep the company’s image a little more. In fact, Bobby Kotick simply refused to release this data, contrary to management’s initial advice.
As a reminder, this isn’t the first time Bobby Kotick has withheld information. In particular, he had withheld from Activision Blizzard management a number of incidents of harassment, as well as a communication in which he directly threatened one of his assistants.
Despite this, Activision-Blizzard’s board of directors still supports the man, saying they are “pleased with his dedication and leadership.” Bobby Kotick has also pledged to resign if he fails to rectify the situation within the publishing house in the coming months.
