Tons of of Activision Blizzard workers have signed a letter (printed by Bloomberg, Polygon, and Kotaku) that rebukes the corporate’s response to California’s allegations that Activision Blizzard has a discriminatory work tradition and points with sexual harassment. The corporate’s response to the lawsuit, which paints a particularly upsetting image of its tradition and the way girls are handled there, has largely been to disclaim the allegations.
Of their letter, which could be learn beneath, the workers say that response “creates an organization ambiance that disbelieves victims,” they usually name for “fast corrections” from the corporate’s prime leaders.
The letter was written in response to each public and inside statements made by Activision Blizzard and its executives in response to the California Division of Honest Employment and Housing lawsuit towards the corporate. A part of the corporate’s public response to the lawsuit was to name the state’s swimsuit “irresponsible habits from unaccountable State bureaucrats which are driving lots of the State’s greatest companies out of California.” The staff’ letter additionally calls on govt Fran Townsend to step down from her function as sponsor for the corporate’s girls’s community after she despatched an e-mail that claimed the lawsuit painted an “unfaithful image” of the corporate’s tradition and referred to as it “meritless.”
Polygon experiences that the letter has gotten over 800 signatures, with Bloomberg placing the quantity at “practically 1,000.” Activision Blizzard reported that it had round 9,500 workers in December 2020, so both of these estimates would possible put the rely north of 8 p.c of the corporate. Activision Blizzard didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The letter could be learn in full beneath:
To the Leaders of Activision Blizzard,
We, the undersigned, agree that the statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their authorized counsel concerning the DFEH lawsuit, in addition to the following inside assertion from Frances Townsend, are abhorrent and insulting to all that we consider our firm ought to stand for. To place it clearly and unequivocally, our values as workers are usually not precisely mirrored within the phrases and actions of our management.
We consider these statements have broken our ongoing quest for equality inside and outdoors of our trade. Categorizing the claims which were made as “distorted, and in lots of circumstances false” creates an organization ambiance that disbelieves victims. It additionally casts doubt on our organizations’ potential to carry abusers accountable for his or her actions and foster a protected surroundings for victims to return ahead sooner or later. These statements make it clear that our management just isn’t placing our values first. Quick corrections are wanted from the best degree of our group.
Our firm executives have claimed that actions can be taken to guard us, however within the face of authorized motion — and the troubling official responses that adopted — we not belief that our leaders will place worker security above their very own pursuits. To assert this can be a “actually meritless and irresponsible lawsuit,” whereas seeing so many present and former workers communicate out about their very own experiences concerning harassment and abuse, is solely unacceptable.
We name for official statements that acknowledge the seriousness of those allegations and reveal compassion for victims of harassment and assault. We name on Frances Townsend to face by her phrase to step down as Govt Sponsor of the ABK Worker Girls’s Community because of the damaging nature of her assertion. We name on the chief management staff to work with us on new and significant efforts that guarantee workers — in addition to our group — have a protected place to talk out and are available ahead.
We stand with all our associates, teammates, and colleagues, in addition to the members of our devoted group, who’ve skilled mistreatment or harassment of any variety. We is not going to be silenced, we is not going to stand apart, and we is not going to surrender till the corporate we love is a office we are able to all really feel proud to be part of once more. We would be the change.
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