During today’s earnings call, Activision Blizzard executives committed to making substantial changes within the organization to help foster a safe work environment. Of the five steps listed, one of them indicates all managers and leaders that "impeded the integrity" of abuse allegations will be terminated immediately.
Before diving into its performance for the quarter, Activision Blizzard executives briefly discussed the recent lawsuit filed by the State of California. Specifically, the company laid out five changes aimed at fostering a safer work environment:
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- Jennifer Oneal and Mike Ybarra will assume responsibility for the company, temporarily replacing president J. Allen Brack.
- Activision Blizzard will continue to investigate each complaint as it is filed. Additional staff and resources will be added to handle the workload.
- Any manager or leader that is found to have impeded the integrity of investigations will be terminated.
- The addition of resources to enhance the "consideration of diverse candidate slates for all open positions."
- The review and removal of any inappropriate in-game content.
After briefly highlighting the above changes, the earnings call continued as planned.
Earlier this morning J. Allen Brack – president of Activision Blizzard – left the company, with Oneal and Ybarra stepping in to fill his role. It's unclear when Brack's old position will be permanently filled.
After a multiple-year investigation, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, alleging several accounts of harassment, discrimination, and abuse in the workplace. The company has made several public statements since then, however, this is the first time we're seeing a concrete list of changes that are aimed at building a more inclusive work environment.
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