Last week, Activision Blizzard was hit with a wave of allegations of a company culture rife with sexual harassment. Dozens upon dozens of stories poured out to experiences of sexism, racism, harassment and more. These stories started coming out last week due to the fact that as of July 20, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a suit on the company following a two-year investigation.
Since then, executives both past and present in Activision Blizzard have issued responses. Now, an open letter is being signed by current employees at the company, stating the response simply wasn’t good enough.
Read some of the responses and it’s easy to see why. Namely, execs can’t seem to set the story straight. Blizzard president J. Allen Brack sent an email to staff calling the allegations “deeply troubling.” Meanwhile, executive Frances Townsend (pictured above) said they were “distorted, and in many cases, false.“ Of course, it’s the latter of the statements that the employees are deeming not responsible.
The employees that have signed the letter state that they “no longer trust,” the company’s leaders “will place employee safety above their own interests.” Consider the fact of the outpouring of horror stories at the company has occurred both prior to and since Townsend’s response, it’s clear as day what the employees mean by this.
The Activision Blizzard lawsuit is an ongoing case. We’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the stories as they unfold.
About the Author
Charlie Kelly
She/Her, They/Them
Charlie loves her video games as much as she loves dumb, charming JRPG protagonists: probably way too much. You can often catch her spending too much time being emotional over LGBT stories in games. She also thinks Yakuza 6 is the best one.
