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ABK walkout begins after report Kotick failed to disclose harassment to board; Oneal: "[leadership] will never prioritize our people the right way"

Wrestleman

Wrestleman

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,360
Virginia
Apologies for the constricted thread title, but there's a lot going on and very little space to fit it into.

www.wsj.com

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Knew for Years About Sexual-Misconduct Allegations at Videogame Giant

The top executive didn’t inform the board of directors about some reports, including alleged rapes. The company is facing multiple regulatory investigations.
www.wsj.com www.wsj.com

There's a lot, but here are two of the most important passages:

WSJ said:
Bobby Kotick, the longtime chief executive of videogame giant Activision Blizzard Inc., received a troubling email in July 2018.

A lawyer for a former employee at Sledgehammer Games, an Activision-owned studio, alleged in the email that her client had been raped in 2016 and 2017 by her male supervisor after she had been pressured to consume too much alcohol in the office and at work events.

The female employee reported the incidents to Sledgehammer's human-resources department and other supervisors, but nothing happened, according to the email, which threatened a lawsuit against the company.

Within months of receiving the email, said people familiar with the situation, Activision reached an out-of-court settlement with the woman, who also had reported one of the incidents to the police. Mr. Kotick didn't inform the company's board of directors about the alleged rapes or the settlement, said people with knowledge of the board.
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WSJ said:
In August, Activision named a longtime employee, Jennifer Oneal, to be Blizzard's co-head, making her the first woman to lead one of the company's business units. The following month, she sent an email to a member of Activision's legal team in which she professed a lack of faith in Activision's leadership to turn the culture around, saying "it was clear that the company would never prioritize our people the right way."

Ms. Oneal said in the email she had been sexually harassed earlier in her career at Activision, and that she was paid less than her male counterpart at the helm of Blizzard, and wanted to discuss her resignation. "I have been tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against," wrote Ms. Oneal, who is Asian-American and gay.

She described a party for an Activision development studio she attended with Mr. Kotick around 2007 in which scantily clad women danced on stripper poles. At the same party, a DJ encouraged female attendees to drink more so the men would have a better time, according to another person who was present.

Ms. Klasky said Mr. Kotick didn't remember attending such a party. The company announced on Nov. 2 that Ms. Oneal is leaving Blizzard at year-end. Ms. Oneal said in an email statement that she made a decision that was best for her and her family.
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The ABK Workers Alliance responsible for the initial walkout has put out the call for a 2nd walkout demanding the resignation and replacement of Kotick:



ABetterABK said:
We have instituted our own Zero Tolerance Policy. We will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO, and continue to hold our original demand for Third-Party review by an employee-chosen source. We are staging a Walkout today. We welcome you to join us.
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They've also responded to the treatment and apparent pushing out of Jennifer Oneal:


ABetterABK said:
"I have been tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against," wrote Ms. Oneal, who is Asian-American and gay.

We were all genuinely excited about Jen's leadership. To see her say, from her own mouth, just how she was treated is truly heart-breaking.
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Vector

Member
Feb 28, 2018
7,344
Is the board going to do the right thing and drop Bobby?

Nah, they're probably gonna give him a big paycheck.
 
SirKai

SirKai

Member
Dec 28, 2017
8,629
Washington
What a fucking mess. I feel so bad for all the employees who have to work in conditions under motherfuckers like this. I've always disliked the "burn it to the ground" mantra that gets spouted so often since that involves also burning the victimized employees who remain (not as a defense to buy Actiblizz stuff; I'm abstaining from supporting them), but over time I'm continuously surprised at how worse and worse things get.

No way the board can keep solidarity with Bobby much longer. I hope.
 

thevid

Puzzle Master
Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,337
A lawyer for a former employee at Sledgehammer Games, an Activision-owned studio, alleged in the email that her client had been raped in 2016 and 2017 by her male supervisor after she had been pressured to consume too much alcohol in the office and at work events.

The female employee reported the incidents to Sledgehammer's human-resources department and other supervisors, but nothing happened, according to the email, which threatened a lawsuit against the company.
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Really puts this thread in a new light:
www.resetera.com

Sledgehammer Games head addresses the Activision Blizzard Lawsuit News - Activision/Blizzard

At a recent press event Aaron Halon, studio head at Sledgehammer Games gave his statement: https://www.gamesradar.com/call-of-duty-vanguard-studio-head-address-the-activision-blizzard-lawsuit/
www.resetera.com www.resetera.com

The whole industry is rotten and even positive anecdotes need to be taken with a grain of salt because they won't show the whole picture.
 
Arkanim94

Arkanim94

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,303
Actibliz is rotten to the core.
This is not a problem the head honchos can fix, they are the problem.
 
canderous

canderous

Prophet of Truth
Member
Jun 12, 2020
9,186
Over the years, Mr. Kotick himself has been accused by several women of mistreatment both inside and outside the workplace, and in some instances has worked to settle the complaints quickly and quietly, according to people familiar with the incidents and documents reviewed by the Journal.

In 2006, one of his assistants complained that he had harassed her, including by threatening in a voice mail to have her killed, according to people familiar with the matter. He settled the matter out of court, the people said.
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What a piece of shit
 
Elyian

Elyian

Member
Feb 7, 2018
3,038
Get Bobby the fuck out of there. This company needs to clean house for the sake of everyone working there.
 
Juryvicious

Juryvicious

Member
Oct 28, 2017
7,319
Just... call it like it is.

At this point, and we have reached this point, as the board of directors simply state that unanimously everyone is confident in Bobby Kotick, not because of his less than stellar personal record in sexual misconduct/ coverups etc., but because of the money he generates, brings in. As CEO damned the travesties he continues to allow on a day to day basis, damned the mental issues he has ignored and henceforth allowed to continue, and the lives he and those that support him because money have ruined.

We all know this is what the motivation in standing pat with Bobby are. Come clean, admit you're all greedy pieces of shit, and summarily quit/ get fucked in lawsuits.
 
Corncob

Corncob

Prophet of Truth
The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
5,264
UK
Boycott all Activision-Blizzard games on this site until Bobby fucks off.
 
ZeoVGM

ZeoVGM

Member
Oct 25, 2017
80,408
Providence, RI
As I said in the other thread, I think Era should ban all Activision Blizzard topics that aren't about this story at least until Kotick is gone. It would be a nice show of solidarity with the employees who are walking.

The report really is that damning.

(I'm not really sure who to contact specifically to bring that up.)
 
Chirotera

Chirotera

Avenger
Oct 27, 2017
4,536
Activision games should be banned here until Kotick is removed. Absolutely disgusting the deeper the hole gets.
 
Kadzork

Kadzork

Has got mad skills!!
Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,692
Starting to have a pavlovian response when I see Activision Blizzard news.

I hate this company.
 
Phellps

Phellps

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,657
This shitshow keeps getting shittier with every new info about it.

Does the California lawsuit stand any chance to actually correct any of this?
 
Ascenion

Ascenion

Prophet of Truth - One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
11,371
Mecklenburg-Strelitz
There's a small chance this gets Bobby ousted. We can hope but let's be honest, the investors don't give a fuck about anything but money and Bobby knows how to make money.
 
platocplx

platocplx

2020 Member Elect
Member
Oct 30, 2017
36,918
FF Seraphim said:
All they care about is money. Hopefully the victims can do civil suits and make them lose some of it.
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All the shit stops immediatelyt if everyone just stops working there for even a couple days. There is no way they can even remotely be able to replace everyone. I wish more workers were empowered to see that shit doesnt run through management it runs through them.
Genesius said:
Convince people not to buy Call of Duty and change becomes a possibility.

...Sigh.
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Well COD sales are down this year. But then again warzone is still going strong
 
Sirhc

Sirhc

Hasn't made a thread yet. Shame me.
Member
Oct 27, 2017
6,286
Giga Man

Giga Man

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 27, 2017
22,153
Patitoloco said:
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Photo of the Board of Directors:

Legion_of_Doom.jpg
 
TJ_Electronica

TJ_Electronica

Member
Nov 14, 2017
2,070
Is there any world where one of the major platforms (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Steam) says "Enough is enough" and removes Activision games from sale until Bobby is removed as CEO?

I feel like that probably violates some kind of contract or agreement between Activision and the platforms but I was just curious.
 
Hyun Sai

Hyun Sai

Member
Oct 27, 2017
14,562
If the board of directors is comprised of people like him, not surprised by their support.
 
Calabi

Calabi

Member
Oct 26, 2017
3,679
Genesius said:
The board wouldn't want Kotick to leave. He's made them a shit-ton of money. I imagine they're conspiring as best they can to keep him on board.
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I mean there won't be much of a company left if they keep Kotick on. What has he got on them or they are some kind of mates sticking to him till the end of the company. They clearly don't really care more about money they care more about there mate and giving him as much money as possible, it's just really confusing and doesn't make much sense.
 
Str0ngStyle

Str0ngStyle

Member
Oct 28, 2017
1,417
TJ_Electronica said:
Is there any world where one of the major platforms (Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Steam) says "Enough is enough" and removes Activision games from sale until Bobby is removed as CEO?

I feel like that probably violates some kind of contract or agreement between Activision and the platforms but I was just curious.
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They sadly would get the **** sued out of them if they did and ABK would probably win that suit. Even then, what's not to say that if Steam decided to what you suggest, here comes EGS "We'll host your Games!"

They all would need to do something in order for your idea to hold any weight.
 
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