An “alliance” of Activision Blizzard staff have demanded WilmerHale not be the third party auditing the company; in the ongoing sexual harassment and discrimination lawsuit.
اسٽاف جي اڳواڻي ۾ هڪ چڙهڻ on July 28th, followed by Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick later stating that the company’s initial response was "ٽون ٻوڙو."
Among the changes, Kotick stated he asked law firm WilmerHale to conduct an immediate review of Activision Blizzard policies and procedures to "يقين بڻايون ته اسان وٽ آهي ۽ برقرار رکڻ لاءِ بهترين طريقا هڪ معزز ۽ جامع ڪم واري جڳهه کي فروغ ڏيڻ لاءِ." ٽيم جي اڳواڻي اسٽيفاني اواڪيان ڪئي ويندي، آمريڪا جي سيڪيورٽيز اينڊ ايڪسچينج ڪميشن جي ڊويزن آف انفورسمينٽ جي اڳوڻي ڊائريڪٽر.
Regardless, staff stated they were ناجائز with Kotick’s response to the lawsuit; stating it did not address several issues they had raised. Now, IGN reports that a coalition of workers from multiple Activision Blizzard studios- the ABK Workers Alliance- have rejected the WilmerHale law firm as the third-party auditor.
The joint letter to Kotick comes from developers at Activision, Beenox, Blizzard Entertainment, High Moon Studios, Infinity Ward, King, Sledgehammer Games, Raven Software, and Vicarious Visions. Together, they reiterate that they demanded the third party audit “be selected by an employee-led Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion task force,” and that Kotick’s response did not meaningfully address their requests.
The reason ABK Workers Alliance reject Wilmer Hale on three major points; a conflict of interest, the law firms alleged مزدورن جي حقن ۽ اجتماعي عمل جي حوصلا افزائي جي تاريخ،”۽ Avakian ۾ ماهر "مالدار ۽ طاقتور جي حفاظت."
The conflict of interest is due to Activision Blizzard already being a client of WilmerHale. They had hired them earlier in 2021 to "تڪرار the Diverse Candidate Search Policy proposed by the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund and UAW Retiree Medical Benefits Trust.”
In addition, they claim Executive Vice President for Corporate Affairs Frances Townsend “is known to have relationships with multiple partners at WilmerHale, including former FBI Director Robert Mueller.” هن cited evidence is currently offline at this time of writing.
ABK Workers Alliance also cite how WilmerHale’s website states their services include “advising on union awareness and avoidance.” Under the Executive and Workforce Training the segment explains how their training programs include that; along with “identifying and dealing with sexual and other unlawful harassment, […] dealing with violence in the workplace,” ۽ وڌيڪ.
The Alliance also accuse WilmerHale of using “anti-collective action tactics” when working with Amazon and Uber, and how gaming and media news outlets described them as “union busting;” or otherwise highlighting the union avoidance training [1, 2, 3].
In addition, the Alliance also claims that WilmerHale’s “ideology” has already taken affect. They claim the listening sessions previously announced by Kotick have been reduced in size, and limited access.
The issues with Avakian is described on WilmerHale’s website as “counseling and defending financial institutions, public and private companies, hedge funds, accounting firms, investment advisors, boards, corporate executives, and individuals facing regulatory and criminal investigations and litigation with the government.”
At this time of writing, the cited page leads to a 404 غلطي. Avakian’s پروفائيل on the website also does not feature the exact phrases as mentioned above. Instead she leads her department in “counseling and defending public companies, investment banks, asset management firms, accounting firms, boards of directors and individual executives through the challenges of government investigations.”
Issue was also taken with a تقرير Avakian made while as the Director of the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement; regarding the SEC’s enforcement program.
The Alliance explains how in her speech “all of her significant examples [of her successes] included achievements in favor of investors, retail clients, and customers, but does not once mention employees or laborers.” The Alliance calls for “legal representation that centers on the concerns of our current employees, rather than investors.”
The ABK Workers Alliance calls upon the Activision Blizzard executive leadership team to fully address the list of demands. The alliance state they will not abandon their cause, and that their ranks continue to swell.
The group are also building their own solutions; including a worker-to-worker mentorship program, open listening sessions (which are recorded and shared across the organization to aid other sessions), and community meetings. All of these occur outside of company communication networks.
As اڳ ۾ رپورٽ ڪيل، ڪيليفورنيا ڊپارٽمينٽ آف فيئر ايمپلائيز اينڊ هائوسنگ ٻن سالن جي تحقيق کي ختم ڪيو. انهن جا نتيجا Activision Blizzard جي خلاف هڪ مقدمو پيش ڪن ٿا.پيارو ڇوڪرو"اسلوب جنسي هراساني، جنهن جي نتيجي ۾ ٿي سگهي ٿي هڪ عورت جنهن ڪمپني جي سفر تي خودڪشي ڪئي، ۽ عورتن لاءِ تبعيض کي گهٽ ادا ڪيو پيو وڃي ۽ گهٽ ۾ گهٽ ترقي ڏني وڃي ٿي ۽ گهڻي عرصي کان پوءِ.
Activision Blizzard چيو آهي ته جڏهن "اسان جي ڪمپني يا صنعت، يا ڪنهن به صنعت ۾، ڪنهن به قسم جي جنسي بدانتظامي يا هراسان ڪرڻ جي ڪا به جاء ناهي،" انهن محسوس ڪيو ڪيليفورنيا جي رپورٽ " مسخ ٿيل، ۽ ڪيترن ئي ڪيسن ۾ غلط، برفاني طوفان جي ماضي جا بيان شامل آهن. Activision ايگزيڪيوٽو فرانسس ٽائونسينڊ کان هڪ اندروني اي ميل انهن الزامن کي بيان ڪيو آهي "حقيقت ۾ غلط، پراڻي ۽ حوالي کان ٻاهر."
جواب ۾، لڳ ڀڳ 1,000 موجوده ۽ اڳوڻي Activision Blizzard ملازمن هڪ کليل خط تي دستخط ڪيو جنهن ۾ جواب جي مذمت ڪئي وئي. "بيوقوف ۽ بي عزتي. " اهو پڻ سرڪاري بيانن جو مطالبو ڪيو "جيڪو انهن الزامن جي سنگينيت کي سڃاڻي ٿو ۽ زيادتي ۽ حملي جي متاثرين لاءِ شفقت جو مظاهرو ڪري ٿو."
جيئن مٿي بيان ڪيو ويو آهي؛ اسٽاف جي اڳواڻي ۾ هڪ چڙهڻ 28 جولاء تي. انهن جي مطالبن جي فهرست ۾ سڀني ملازمن جي معاهدن ۾ لازمي ثالثي شقن کي ختم ڪرڻ، ڪمپني جي سڀني سطحن تي نمائندگي کي بهتر بڻائڻ لاءِ پاليسيون اپنائڻ، عورتن کي ادا ڪيل ۽ منصفانه طور تي ترقي يافته ڏيکارڻ لاءِ پگھار جي ڊيٽا شايع ڪرڻ، ۽ ڪمپني جي ايگزيڪيوٽو ۽ HR جي آڊٽ لاءِ ٽئين پارٽي کي ڀرتي ڪرڻ شامل آهن. عملو
ذريعن دعويٰ ڪئي ته عملي کي واڪ آئوٽ جي سزا نه ڏني ويندي، ۽ وقت ادا ڪيو هو. ڪوٽڪ بعد ۾ چيو ته ڪمپني جي شروعاتي جواب هئي "ٽون ٻوڙو."
Activision Blizzard جي پاليسين ۽ طريقيڪار جو فوري جائزو وٺڻ لاءِ هڪ قانوني فرم آڻڻ سان گڏ؛ ڪوٽڪ چيو ته ڪمپني سڀني دعوائن جي جاچ ڪندي، ٽئين پارٽين پاران منظم ڪيل سيشن ٻڌڻ لاءِ محفوظ جڳهون ٺاهيندي، مينيجرز ۽ اڳواڻن جو فوري جائزو، مختلف نوڪرين لاءِ تعميل وسيلن، ۽ اين پي سيز کي هٽائڻ لاءِ. جنگي جهازن جو عالم الزامن ۾ نامزد ڪيل ماڻهن کان متاثر ٿيو.
عملدارن چيو ته اهي هئا ناجائز مقدمي تي ڪوٽڪ جي جواب سان؛ اهو بيان ڪيو ويو آهي ته هن جبري ثالثي کي ختم ڪرڻ، ملازمن جي ڀرتي ۽ واڌاري جي پاليسين جي نگراني ۾ ملوث، وڏي پئماني تي شفافيت، يا ڪمپني جي عملن ۽ HR جي آڊٽ ڪرڻ لاء ٽئين پارٽي جي ملازم جي چونڊ کي خطاب نه ڪيو.
وڌيڪ، لڳ ڀڳ 500 اڳوڻي ۽ موجوده Ubisoft ملازمن پنهنجي حمايت جو اعلان ڪيو Activision Blizzard جي عملي لاءِ هڪ کليل خط ۾؛ نئين صنعت-وڏين ضابطن ۽ عملن لاءِ سڏ. جيف اسٽرين، اڳوڻو برفاني طوفان تفريحي ڊولپر ۽ Undead Labs جو باني، تازو سڏيو ويو اتحاد ڪرڻ وڊيو گيمز انڊسٽري جي.
تازي خبرن ۾، Blizzard Entertainment جي صدر J. Allen Brack جو اعلان هو هيٺ ڪري رهيو هو. جين اونل ۽ مائڪ يباررا هاڻي اڳتي وڌڻ واري ڪمپني جي گڏيل اڳواڻن جي حيثيت سان پنهنجي جاءِ وٺي ويندا.
تصوير: Twitter
