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Harassment: pressure is mounting around Activision-Blizzard, the American video game giant

2021-11-17T18:33:27.425Z


A Wall Street Journal investigation claims that executive Bobby Kotick was aware of cases of rape and sexual assault within the studios and did not notify his board of directors.


For the second time in four months, Activision-Blizzard employees have stopped work. On Tuesday, nearly 150 of them gathered outside the campus of video game publisher Blizzard, in Irvine, Calif. - a significant number given the low culture of the protest in the industry - shortly after the publication. of a Wall Street Journal investigation. Their watchword: the resignation of Bobby Kotick, the emblematic boss of one of the most powerful video game publishers in the world. They were joined on Wednesday by a group of minority shareholders, who in turn demand the departure of the CEO as well as two other members of the board of directors.

Call of Duty, World of Warcraft, Candy Crush

... Activision-Blizzard and its 10,000 employees weigh nearly $ 50 billion on the stock market for a turnover of $ 8 billion in 2020. But this video game titan is in turmoil since this summer.

A complaint filed by the Department of Fair Employment and Housing, a public agency in the state of California, revealed a toxic and sexist corporate culture, ranging from the difficulty for women (20% of the workforce) to progress in their career. career to bullying and sexual harassment charges.

Read alsoVideo games: Activision Blizzard shaken by accusations of harassment and sexism

The complaint also affirmed that the suicide of an employee of the group during a business trip was due to the intense harassment she suffered from one of her superiors.

An intimate photo of the young woman had been shared without her consent during a party organized by the company.

Dismissal overturned by Bobby Kotick

Since then, Activision-Blizzard's human resources have received more than 500 complaints from employees, former or current, referring in turn to situations of pay inequalities between men and women, moral harassment or sexual assault. Thirty employees of the e-sport division thus denounced the actions of their superiors, who commented on their physique, belittled them and allowed themselves to touch them. Another recurring problem is excessive alcohol consumption in the studios. In one quarter, around 20 indicted employees were dismissed and as many were disciplined.

But was Bobby Kotick aware of these outbursts before the case broke? Yes, say the journalists of the

Wall Street Journal

in the investigation which led to the walkout of the employees. The American media evokes the case of a former employee accusing her superior of having raped her twice. His lawyer sent Bobby Kotick an email in July 2018 threatening the company with legal action. A financial deal was finally reached between the two parties a few months later, and the alleged assailant was fired. But the boss did not see fit to inform the members of the board of directors of Activision-Blizzard of this matter.

The

Wall Street Journal

also explains that Bobby Kotick intervened in 2019 to cancel the dismissal of the co-director of the studio Treyarch, who is working on the very powerful

Call of Duty

license

.

The latter was accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate after a drinking party.

The director announced his resignation shortly after the article was published.

The management is united

These revelations rocked the Activision-Blizzard action, which on Tuesday lost more than 6% of its value on Wall Street and nearly 3% on Wednesday at the opening of trade.

The fall is even more severe if we go back to the outbreak of the case at the end of July.

In less than four months, the group's stock market valuation has fallen by more than 25%.

The management of the group immediately united behind its CEO, at the head of Activision since 1991. The

Wall Street Journal

investigation

would give a "

misleading and inaccurate view of the company,

" she said in a statement. “

Action has been taken on the cases of sexual harassment that have come to her attention.

The board of directors renewed their confidence in Bobby Kotick in another public statement.

The boss defended himself in a video sent to all employees.

Anyone who doubts my determination (to make the company) the most welcoming and inclusive place to work, doesn't realize how important these issues are to me,

” he says.

Bobby Kotick is one of the highest paid American bosses in the country, with an estimated salary of $ 154 million in 2020. The boss demanded at the end of October that his salary be reduced to $ 62,500.

Stock market authorities are investigating

The Activision-Blizzard affair is of great interest to the policeman of the American stock market, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Its teams opened an investigation at the end of September to determine to what extent the management of the video game publisher was aware of cases of discrimination and harassment, and whether the shareholders of the group should have been informed. The SEC demands a copy of the minutes of the boards of directors held since 2019, the HR files of several employees, the financial agreements made with ex-collaborators, and the emails exchanged between Bobby Kotick and the group's management about these cases .

Activision-Blizzard has already lost the director of the Blizzard subsidiary (

World of Warcraft, Overwatch

), J. Allen Brack, who resigned in August.

The Department of Fair Employment and Housing complaint accused him of not acting despite his knowledge of harassment and discrimination in his studios.

J. Allen Brack was immediately replaced by a dual management, made up of Mike Ybarra and Jen Oneal.

But drama: less than three months after taking office, the young woman resigned.

According to the

Wall Street Journal

, his salary was lower than that of his male alter ego.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-11-17

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