Late in July 2021, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing initiated a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for fostering a "frat-boy" company culture and abusive workplace conditions, especially for female employees. The company has since seen a wave of scrutiny from fans and critics alike, and several high-level executives, including the Blizzard President and HR heads, have announced their departure from Activision in the wake.
Activision Blizzard executive Frances Townsend, who serves as the Vice President of Corporate Affairs, Corporate Secretary, and Chief Compliance Officer for the company, shared an editorial from The Atlantic titled "The Problem With Whistleblowing" just days after the news and leaks of the lawsuit broke. Townsend then responded to critics on Twitter by blocking them, many of whom were fellow Activision Blizzard employees. Frances Townsend has since deleted her Twitter account without giving a specific reason.
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After the lawsuit was initially made public she sent out a company-wide email calling the lawsuit "factually incorrect" and presented a "distorted and untrue picture of our company." This decision was key to instigating a more-than-2,000-employee walkout in protest about a week after the California DFEH initiated its lawsuit. Her tweet sharing the whistleblowing editorial, which was published on July 28, came less than a week after this company-wide email was leaked to the public along with an email from now-ousted Blizzard president J Allan Brack.
Other executives, including company president Bobby Kotick, have responded to the allegations with relative grace and acceptance. Townsend took a different approach altogether, calling the lawsuit "meritless and irresponsible." Employees have since called for her removal as the head of the ABK Employee Women's Network, while fans are calling for her removal from the company altogether.
Townsend was hired in March 2021 but was known previously for her roles as a Counterterrorism Expert Counsel to the George W. Bush administration from 2004 to 2007. Townsend has not proven to be a popular hire among the community or employees, who have criticized her for being a torture apologist thanks to her 2009 defense of CIA torture methods. She has also been heavily criticized for her mishandling of the situation despite being a very new hire at Activision Blizzard, having only been a part of its workplace culture for about four months.
Activision Blizzard has yet to comment on the situation, though it is likely that Townsend deleted her account in response to rapidly increasing criticism. Townsend herself has not released a statement on her departure from the platform, either, though she rarely responded to critics to begin with.
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Sources: Twitter
