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Activision Blizzard claimed its own internal investigation proves accusations of widespread harassment are unfounded, contrary to findings by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
As reported by Eurogamer, Activision Blizzard conducted an internal investigation following multiple accusations of workplace harassment throughout the company. Today, Activision Blizzard released its findings, which determined that there is "no widespread harassment, or systemic harassment" present in the workplace.
"Contrary to many of the allegations, the Board and its external advisors have determined that there is no evidence to suggest that Activision Blizzard senior executives ever intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were reported, the report reads. "While there are some substantiated instances of gender harassment, those unfortunate circumstances do not support the conclusion that Activision senior leadership or the Board were aware of and tolerated gender harassment or that there was ever a systemic issue with harassment, discrimination or retaliation."
Activision further noted that the company had employed former chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) Gilbert Casellas to conduct an independent review and stated he found similar findings to its own. "Based on his review, Mr. Casellas concluded that there was no widespread harassment, pattern or practice of harassment, or systemic harassment at Activision Blizzard or at any of its business units [between 1st September 2016 and 31st December 2021]. Mr Casellas further concluded that, based on the volume of reports, the amount of misconduct reflected is comparatively low for a company the size of Activision Blizzard," the report reads.
Although the company acknowledges the criticisms against it, it condemned the media's coverage of the case. Activision said it "has been subject to an unrelenting barrage of media criticism that attempts to paint the entire company (and many innocent employees) with the stain of a very small portion of our employee population who engaged in bad behaviour and were disciplined for it." It further accused the DFEH of perpetrating the coverage which it deemed unfair, calling it "highly inflammatory, made-for-press allegations" by the department.
The report continued, listing several reformations employed at the company in response to the allegations, such as the formation of an Ethics and Compliance team, adding a new zero-tolerance policy for harassment and tripling its investment in anti-harassment and discrimination training. As additional facts to defend itself with, the company claimed its review found that women and those who do not identify as men on average make $1.01 to every dollar earned by a male employee in 2020 and were paid equally to men in 2021. As part of this, it also claimed the company had "improved transparency to employees by providing regular updates on diversity representation and pay equity."
Lawsuits into Activision Blizzard began in July 2021, when the Califonia DFEH concluded a two-year investigation that found widespread sexual harassment, various inequalities and an overall "frat boy" culture. A new case against Activision, reporting the same types of abuse from an unnamed employee, came out earlier this year. Despite its protestations, Activision agreed to settle the suit against it from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against California's protests such an agreement could hurt the other cases.
Source: Activision Blizzard via Eurogamer