A company representative said 37 employees were fired or fired, while 44 faced other forms of discipline.
A new Wall Street Journal report says Activision Blizzard has fired or fired 2021 employees since July 37 as part of the company's investigation into sexual harassment and other workplace abuse complaints, with 44 employees facing other forms of discipline. The report also shows that the company collected around 700 reports of potential workplace misconduct during the same period, some of which were separate reports on the same incidents.
Sources also told the site that a summary of these actions was set to be posted before the holiday break, but was pulled back by CEO Bobby Kotick over concerns that it could make the company's problems appear more serious than known.
An Activision Blizzard representative confirmed that as a result of its investigations into the complaints, 37 employees have "leave" the company and 44 have been disciplined. The representative disputed the 700 grievance reports, but said comments from employees included statements made on social media and only covered a "few" range of concerns that were potentially serious allegations. The representative further said that "the allegation about Mr Kotick is not true" and that "our focus is to make sure we have the right data and analysis to share".
Allegations of widespread harassment, discrimination, and a “frat boy” culture at Activision Blizzard first surfaced in July 2021 following a lawsuit filed against the company by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Shortly after that, Kotick promised "to be held accountable for people's actions" by promising wholesale changes to the company, and then taking a symbolic pay cut.
But he has come under increasing pressure to step down since a follow-up report in November that claimed Kotick had been aware of allegations of sexual harassment at the company for years, in fact harassing one of his own aides, and even threatening to kill him in 2006. This led to calls for him to be removed from employees, shareholders and even a political activist group. In December, six U.S. treasuries sent a letter to Activision Blizzard requesting a meeting with the board of directors to discuss concerns raised by the SOC Investment Group, and in November urged Kotick to resign because he "did not recognize and address" the company's problems.
For now, however, Kotick remains in office with the public support of Activision Blizzard's board of directors, who in November 2021 expressed confidence in his "leadership, commitment and ability to achieve [the company's] goals." and “Bobby Kotick appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention”,
