FILE PHOTO: The entrance to the Activision Blizzard Inc. campus is shown in Irvine, California, U.S., August 6, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Blake
January 17, 2022
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Activision Blizzard Inc has fired or pushed out more than three dozen employees and disciplined another 40 since July to address allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct at the videogame company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Activision was scheduled to release a summary of these actions before the recent holidays, but Chief Executive Bobby Kotick held it back as the company’s workplace problems could appear bigger than has been reported, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.
The recently completed summary also says Activision had collected about 700 reports of employee concerns over misconduct and other issues since July, when a California state agency filed a lawsuit against the company over harassment claims.
Data compiled by Activision, which owns the “Call of Duty” franchise, show it has so far reviewed more than 90% of about 700 employee reports it has collected, the Journal said, again citing people familiar with the situation.
Activision said in October it had fired more than 20 employees following allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination at the workplace, with 20 more individuals facing other forms of disciplinary action.
Activision did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
(Reporting by Herbert Lash; Editing by Paul Simao)
