There have been more developments in the Activision Blizzard lawsuit alleging sexual harassment and worse. A new report cites an internal all-hands call of sorts in which executives claimed they, “have never seen this” behavior.
The lawsuit was filed last week wherein the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a complaint against Activision Blizzard following a two year investigation. The lawsuit alleges the company enabled a “frat boy” culture resulting in many female employees sexually harassed and discriminated against.
This latest report arrives from UppercutCrit (via Kotaku) which points to an all-hands internal call headed by Activision Blizzard executive, Joshua Taub. According to UppercutCrit’s source, Taub began the call by claiming himself and CEO Bobby Kotick, “have never seen this” behavior. Taub allegedly went on to note that “does not mean this behavior does not happen.”
According to UppercutCrit’s source, Taub continued,
“…zero tolerance means claims are investigated properly [strictly]. We don’t publicize all of these claims, we work with the employee and the person who is accused and try to work on a resolution.”
The source goes on to note a question was asked of Taub regarding unionization, to which his response was geared towards handling such matters internally allegedly stating, “The best way for protection is reaching out to your supervisors, hotline and avenues.”
Taub was also asked how difficult the job was to draft an official apology direct from Activision Blizzard. Taub allegedly responded, “We did.” He continued, noting how he cannot control how people in the company can respond.
Taub did allegedly accepted Fran Townsend’s statement last week, “wasn’t the right communication.” Taub did allegedly note Activision Blizzard will fight the lawsuit. This follows news of a petition signed by over 1000 Activision Blizzard employees denouncing the company’s public response.
In recent days, multiple figures – both current and former – from Activision Blizzard have come out with statements of their own, including Mike Morhaime, Chris Metzen, J. Allen Brack (who is mentioned specifically in the lawsuit), and others.
As for our own coverage plans, we noted our intention to continue to cover this lawsuit and the news surrounding it. However, we at MMORPG will not stream any Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft, or Riot on our platforms until such time as clear, substantive, and transformational change transpires.
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