After bombshell report, Activision employees walk out, demand CEO resign

A group of Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout and demanded the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick Tuesday, in response to a bombshell Wall Street Journal report alleging Kotick failed to act decisively or inform his board of directors of widespread abuse allegations within the company.

The WSJ story is the result of months of reporting and says that Activision has received more than 500 claims of “harassment, sexual assault, bullying, pay disparities, and other issues” just in the few months since the state of California brought a lawsuit against the company over such problems. Many of those reports stem from heavy drinking at company-sponsored events, according to the Journal, including the alleged rape of one employee at the hands of Sledgehammer Games supervisor Javier Panameno (who was later fired after an internal investigation, and who has now resigned from his subsequent employer Zynga). This follows on broadly similar reports of drunken misconduct stemming from a booze-filled “Cosby suite” at BlizzCon 2013.

The Journal report also adds new context to the sudden departure of former Blizzard co-chief Jennifer Oneal, who announced she was leaving the company earlier this month, just three months after being promoted to help fill the role of former President J. Allen Brack. Oneal reportedly complained to a company lawyer of previous sexual harassment she suffered at the company, pay disparities with her Blizzard co-chief Mike Ybarra, and a lack of faith that the company’s executive leadership could change its culture. “I have been tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against,” Oneal reportedly wrote.

The Journal also reports that Dan Bunting, the co-head of Call of Duty studio Treyarch was accused of sexually harassing a fellow employee in 2017. While an internal report in 2019 recommended that Bunting be fired, Kotick reportedly intervened to allow Bunting to stay at the company after being given counseling. Bunting has reportedly resigned from his position following questioning from the Journal.

Kotick reportedly withheld information about these and other allegations of which he was aware from Activision’s board of directors, according to the Journal. And Kotick was also the subject of a number of harassment complaints himself and reportedly threatened to have his assistant killed in a voicemail left in response to one such complaint in 2006. An Activision spokesperson told the Journal that Kotick “quickly apologized 16 years ago for the obviously hyperbolic and inappropriate voice mail, and he deeply regrets the exaggeration and tone in his voice mail to this day.”

Activision criticizes “inaccurate and misleading” report

In response to the explosive and wide-ranging allegations in the piece, Kotick shared a video message with employees in which he said the Journal’s report “paints an inaccurate and misleading view of our company, of me personally, and my leadership.” In those remarks, Kotick recommitted to “creat[ing] the most welcoming and inclusive workplace” and said that “anyone who doubts my conviction to be the most welcoming, inclusive workplace doesn’t really appreciate how important this is to me.”

In a statement provided to Bloomberg and other outlets, an Activision spokesperson echoed disappointment that the report “presents an inaccurate and misleading view of Activision Blizzard and our CEO. Instances of sexual misconduct that were brought to his attention were acted upon. The WSJ ignores important changes underway to make the this industry’s most welcoming and inclusive workplace.”

Activision’s board of directors issued a separate statement giving Kotick its support, saying the board “remains confident that Bobby Kotick appropriately addressed workplace issues brought to his attention” and that it “remains committed to the goal of making Activision Blizzard the most welcoming and inclusive company in the industry.”

These statements were not enough for many employees. The ABK Workers Alliance publicly called for an employee walkout today, saying that “we will not be silenced until Bobby Kotick has been replaced as CEO.” That follows a “Walkout for Equality” the group helped organize in July demanding a number of concrete changes to Activision policies on arbitration, recruitment, and diversity. Kotaku reports that over 100 employees have gathered outside Blizzard’s Irvine headquarters demanding Kotick’s resignation Tuesday afternoon.

“We are fully committed to fostering a safe, inclusive and rewarding environment for all of our employees around the world,” Activision said of the walkout in a statement provided to The Washington Post. “We support their right to express their opinions and concerns in a safe and respectful manner, without fear of retaliation.”

Back in July, Kotick was forced to apologize for the company’s initial response to the public reveal of the California lawsuit, which Kotick called “tone deaf.” Activision withheld information about that California lawsuit from shareholders for two years before it became public, leading to a proposed class-action lawsuit from shareholders who say they were “economically damaged” by that secrecy.

Kotick requested and received a massive pay cut last month, reducing his total compensation to just $62,500 “until the Board has determined that we have achieved the transformational gender-related goals and other commitments described above.” That follows on a reduction of Kotick’s $1.75 million salary to $875,000 back in April, following investor pressure that called his pay “excessive.”

Activision stock was down 6 percent today, giving back early gains and dropping precipitously soon after the Journal report dropped this morning. The dip takes the company’s public valuation down to its lowest value since May of last year.