Activision Blizzard has fired or pushed out 37 employees accused of misconduct related to the allegations of sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination at the employer since July 2021, according to a report published Monday by the Wall Street Journal.
The terminations are a result of nearly 700 reports of employee concern over misconduct at the company, the Journal reports, and come amid investigations into the company’s culture and pay practices by both the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
Report: Bobby Kotick Is Still Trying To Hide The Scale Of Activision’s Problemshttps://t.co/DcnxDLvynG
The Wall Street Journal is reporting that not only has Activision Blizzard fired dozens of staff in the last few months, but that CEO Bobby Kotick has pic.twitter.com/5786OV6c1G— SyntaxError (@DataAugmented) January 17, 2022
Activision has confirmed the departures, with spokesperson Helaine Klasky saying “37 people have ‘exited’ and 44 have been disciplined as part of the company’s investigation.” Klasky disputed the number of reports, saying that many comments came from social media, and that only a small number contained potentially serious assertions.
CEO Bobby Kotick originally planned to reveal this information prior to the holidays, per the report, but opted to withhold the information because he feared it would make the company’s problems seem worse than they’re already seen to be.
Kotick remains in charge at Activision Blizzard despite calls from within and without the company for his removal, and now that Microsoft has acquired his company for $68.7 billion, he’s reportedly to stay there until the deal is finalized in 2023.
