Activision Blizzard Shareholders Approve Release Of Harassment Report, Declines Adding Employee Rep To The Board

Activision Blizzard will now have to publicly report on its efforts to stop workplace discrimination and harassment after the company's shareholders approved the proposal from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli. The proposal requested that Activision Blizzard share the company’s total number of sexual harassment settlements, its progress around more quickly resolving harassment and abuse complaints, and total pending complaints.

DiNapoli told The Washington Post in a statement: “Shareholders’ majority vote spoke loudly. Activision Blizzard needs to restore investor confidence and increase transparency on how it handles workplace harassment and discrimination. We expect swift action from the company on our concerns.”

Then, last Thursday, Activision Blizzard released a proxy statement that said it found “no evidence to suggest that Activision Blizzard senior executives ever intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were reported.” The same report also affirmed that there were “some substantiated instances of gender harassment,” but then continued on to clear not only senior leadership but also the board of directors from association with those incidents in the normal Activision Blizzard fashion.

At Tuesday’s shareholders meeting, a recording from an employee at Raven Software--the same group that Activision Blizzard had attempted to hault their unionization--was played. The audio went on to ask if an employee could be appointed to the board after being voted in democratically by non-leadership. The employee asked to help make the board more aware of employee concerns. The board deined this request with only 5 percent voting in favor.

“The outright rejection of allowing an employee rep on the board sends a signal that they are not ready for true change. The only chance to resolve [Activision Blizzard's] endemic issues will be once it assumes Microsoft’s playbook post-acquisition,” says Joost van Dreunen, a lecturer on business of games at New York University Stern School of Business.