Activision Blizzard is currently in a spot of bother with multiple lawsuits levied against the company in relation to widespread sexual misconduct.
It's now looking like at least one of the lawsuits will be nearing its end, with a settlement of $18 million due to be approved by U.S District Judge Dale Fischer. This is specifically in relation to the lawsuit filed by U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and is separate from another lawsuit from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing.
The $18 million will go towards compensation for eligible claimants, with the publisher pledging continued policy enhancement, practices, and training to prevent harassment and discrimination in the workplace. Activision Blizzard will also engage with a third-party equal employment opportunity consultant approved by the EEOC.
Current CEO Bobby Kotick had the following to say about the settlement:
“The agreement we reached with the EEOC last year reflected our unwavering commitment to ensure a safe and equitable working environment for all employees. Our goal is to make Activision Blizzard a model for the industry, and we will continue to focus on eliminating harassment and discrimination from our workplace.
The court’s approval of this settlement is an important step in ensuring that our employees have mechanisms for recourse if they experienced any form of harassment or retaliation. We are gratified that the federal court that reviewed our settlement with the EEOC is finding that it is ‘fair, reasonable and adequate and advance(s) the public interest.’
The Court’s approval is a vital step in our journey to ensuring that everyone at Activision Blizzard always feels safe, heard and empowered. We hope the court’s findings – including its view that many of the objections raised about our settlement were inaccurate and speculative – will dispel any confusion that may exist. With all of the terms of the settlement reviewed and approved, we can move forward."
Activision Blizzard still has a number of lawsuits to content with, most recently by attorney Lisa Bloom on behalf of a current employee known as 'Jane Doe'.
The publisher is also in the midst of an acquisition from Microsoft, which by all accounts is likely to go through all the necessary approvals. It's speculated that current Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick will resign once the acquisition completes, and he has previously stated with publisher executives that he is open to resigning should the ongoing issues not be resolved "with speed".
As this is a sensitive topic, please keep our Community Rules in mind when discussing it below.
[source investor.activision.com, via ign.com]
Comments 40
I hope this finally settles it and Blizzard (UNDER Microsoft management) starts delivering games like they used to
A drop in the ocean for scum like Kotick. These people need actual repercussions.
Why can’t people just keep their hands and words to themselves? Nobody signs up to be tortured at work. 700 incidents. That is horrifying.
No jail time? Well I guess money makes the world go round as they say.
Pffft.. considering the annual billions of profit that's just a little slap on the wrist. No wonder this keeps happening in many major big companies...
Jail would be good to go along with this. Make the responsible ones bleed.
Yeah, that's chump change for them. Make no mistake, that IS a problem.
@prismt I still have hope as some of my absolute favorite games that shaped my gaming back then were StarCraft, WarCraft and Diablo.
@Zuljaras got very little confidence that Blizzard will produce better games under Microsoft. Sure, I do believe all this idiotic sexual misconduct will better controlled under Microsoft, but both of companies they’ve bought are companies that lean heavily into MTX and by looking at how Microsoft’s been dealing with that lately, I don’t think it’ll improve.
If Bobby Kotick stays home for one weekend instead of going out to party, he can pay for the $18 million easily.
He wouldn’t though.
Several outstanding?
Good thing they could afford several thousand then, I suppose.
They shouldn't have accepted the settlement, was interested to see what would have come out with everyone on public record
@Octane_st1m I don't think jail time was possible for this, it's not a criminal charge (to my knowledge, unless it's different in America from the UK). It was always going to end in money being paid out from either party. Saying that, like I said above, I was kind of hoping they'd fight it instead of just throwing money at it as anything said in a court of law would go on public record, and everyone would have to be held accountable for what is said. Could have seen some proper change if they didn't settle and instead went ahead.
@victordamazio is that from a game? It’s probably the most accurate thing I’ve ever read.
@nessisonett Agreed. Paying a fine does nothing anymore
@InkIdols To be fair, people at Activision Blizzard who did that, deserve to be arrested, but you can't arrest an actual company, you can't be abused by a company, only by people who work at the company.
In order to do something against the actual company, you need to give them a fine, the problem here is that if a small company that only has a few millions has to pay the same fine than a big company that has many billions, then the law only exists for small companies.
@PessitheMystic Looks like Final Fantasy Tactics.
@PessitheMystic Final Fantasy Tactics. PS1.
@Bass_X0 Activision CEO Bobby Kotick cuts his salary to $62,500, California’s state minimum.
https://fortune.com/2021/10/28/activision-ceo-bobby-kotick-salary-california-minimum-bonus-stock-options/
@nessisonett I was thinking exactly the same thing. Would be like asking someone who is middle class to pay a £20 fine. Doesn’t remotely dent the pocket. And when you factor how long this has been going on for before it became so public it’s just outrageous.
The payout should be much higher and individuals need to held to account and named in a more formal capacity. The organisation even if under new management should be put on notice with clear tangible objectives in place within a set timeframe or risk incurring further more intrusive action.
"The agreement we reached with the EEOC last year reflected our unwavering commitment to ensure a safe and equitable working environment for all employees"
BLEEP off.
Nothing says "we're innocent" like giving victims ̶h̶u̶s̶h̶ ̶m̶o̶n̶e̶y̶ a paid settlement.
Can't believe that slimy slug is still employed.
@prismt You cannot blame a whole company for the actions of a few.
@Vix I believe he gets booted once the merger is final.
@Vix
This newspiece contains no information regarding whether or not the unnamed perpetrator at the center of this settlement is still employed.
If you're talking about Bobby, then that's another case entirely. He's actually likely to have it in his contract that he WON'T quit from Activision until the merger is over and a new board is fully assembled. Upon which everyone would expect him to happily leave with a big smile on his face and his van full of money.
@Octane_st1m The reason there's no jail time, is because this is a civil case and not a criminal one. It's a lot to explain on here, so I recommend looking up the difference.
" Our goal is to make Activision Blizzard a model for the industry..."
This made me legitimately laugh. Probably not the right time to be saying stuff like that!
@CharlieGirl It's a civil case. The whole point of those is to pay money for damages. Read the difference between criminal and civil cases!
@BloodNinja @Matty1988 Missed the civil suit part. Strange though if it is sexual harassment then it could be filed as a criminal case right? Not knowledgeable about the exact situation but yeah thanks for clarifying!
@meeto_1 Nah, Activision shouldn't be paying more for the settlement, the money is for compensation, so no matter how big a company is, that doesn't entitle the victims to a higher compensation. Also, Activision could easily handle bigger fines, they could even fire people to pay them.
As always, just stopping to buy their products would be enough to hurt them.(Or the government could oblige products of certain companies to have a mandatory symbol that show that a company has been involved in these type of scandals recently)
18 million is nothing for the CEO
@Octane_st1m I dunno how it works in the US but certainly in the UK there's a big difference between sexual harassment and sexual offense, it seems like in the US the terms are used interchangeably in the public forum (which is mental). I would have liked to see it progress as it means Activision Blizzard (and I suppose the people filing the complaint) would need to go on record, ie, fun situations like "We have a harassment policy and everyone abides by it", being met with such fun rebuttals as "Okay, provide evidence it 1. Works from a fundamental point of view 2. Those who break it are held accountable and 3. Everyone who is named in the suit abided by it". This would have seen some real change. But nah, gotta get that money, I suppose.
@Octane_st1m Criminal vs. Civil lawsuits follow different rules of engagement, for lack of a better word. For criminal, there needs to be hard evidence, for example bodily injury in addition to the sexual harassment. It also needs to be reported in a timely fashion. Verbal abuse is not necessarily a criminal act, which is why they often go to civil cases. There are other factors that are taken case by case, but given this situation, it went to civil trial instead of criminal. Probably due to the amount of time from the first reported incident, and the fact that the majority of the abuse was psychological, potentially mixed with physical. That’s probably why it went civil rather than criminal.
Activision Blizzard need urgently to fire the responsible for the horrible act at the company, 18 milions dolars is pocket money to Activision Blizzard.
@Matty1988 - It will likely be treated the same way. Sure you see "justice" of a few the company is willing to sacrifice, but that does almost as little to the culture within as a fine would. And the people fighting it don't have the money to drag that put like Activision does. Which is something Rockstar/Take Two does on the norm to remove anyone or anything closely resembling their namesakes.
@Pod Was talking about Bobby the Hutt, yeah.
Why does it seem like most people are more concerned with Bobby Kotick than the actual rapists and sexual criminals? He was CEO of the offenders and nobody seems to want the names and info of the sexual criminals, only the rich guy matters.
@prismt You really believe that?
Tap here to load 40 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...