Activision Blizzard Fires 20 Employees as Part of Ongoing Investigation Into Harassment Claims
Including a few company supervisors and several game developers.
Activision Blizzard has fired 20 employees as part of its investigation into allegations of gender-based discrimination and harassment at the company, the Financial Times reported.
The gaming company has recently faced accusations of enabling sexual harassment for years. In their efforts to urge Activision Blizzard to take action, over 800 employees penned an open letter to the company this summer and many participated in a series of protests. Company president J. Allen Brack also resigned in August.
The Financial Times obtained a letter sent to Activision Blizzard staff on Tuesday, in which the company announced the firings and wrote that it will expand its ethics and compliance team to create a “more accountable workplace.”
The company’s chief compliance officer, Frances Townsend, declined to share the names of the individuals who were fired, citing legal reasons, but did share that among those terminated were a few supervisors and several game developers. None of the firings were from the company’s board or senior management team.
“We call it as we see it,” Townsend said to the Financial Times. “It doesn’t matter what your rank is, what your job is. If you’ve committed some sort of misconduct or you’re a leader who has tolerated a culture that is not consistent with our values, we’re going to take action. The impact on the business is not a consideration.”
Last month, Activision Blizzard and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) agreed to a lawsuit settlement worth $18 million USD that would serve to pay employees and develop resources to put an end to discriminatory practices at the company, including employee training and future audits from the EEOC.
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