Staff at US
gaming giant Activision Blizzard have staged a walk-out over accusations of
sexism and harassment.
The company
behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft was sued last week by the state of
California over alleged violations of state workplace protection laws.
Female
employees described a "frat boy" culture, the lawsuit said.
Activision
denied the allegations claiming they were "distorted and in many cases
false".
On Tuesday,
Activision's CEO said the initial response had been "tone-deaf".
Employees
protested outside the company's campus in Irvine on Wednesday. Some were
pictured holding signs that read "women's voices matter" and
"fight bad guys in-game, fight bad guys IRL".
On social
media, a number of gamers said they would not log in to anything Activision
Blizzard during the walkout in solidarity with employees many business listings.
The
allegations against Activision were contained in a legal filing from the
California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) following a
two-year investigation.
It included
accusations of drunken harassment of female employees by male colleagues or
supervisors, a culture of ignoring complaints and retaliation against women who
made them, and widespread discrimination against women in areas such as equal
pay and promotion opportunity.
The lawsuit
found that women make up only 20% of Activision's staff.
More than
2,000 employees have signed an open letter calling for an end to mandatory
arbitration in harassment cases, improvements in recruiting practices, and the
creation of diversity and equity task force business listings.
Chief
Executive Bobby Kotick said on Tuesday that the company will "continue to
investigate each and every claim" of sexism at Activision "and will
not hesitate to take decisive action".
"Anyone
found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and
imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated," he said.
Mr Kotick
added that Activision's games criticized as being sexist will also be removed
following complaints from staff and gamers. He said that there would be
listening sessions for staff to "speak out and share areas for
improvement" free business listings.
Comments
Post a Comment