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Activision Blizzard Employees Are Planning Company-Wide Walkout

Published Tue, 27 Jul 2021 14:42:10 -0500

Last updated Tue, 27 Jul 2021 14:52:42 -0500

In the latest development over the Activision Blizzard allegations, employees are now planning a walkout from the company this week. The word got out through WoWHead, who received the statement you see below from employees which were passed out to the entire staff. On Wednesday, July 28th, the staff is expected to walk out of the studio from 10am-2pm PT (since most of their offices are located on the west coast) as a sign of protest against the company's corporate response to a lawsuit filed by the state of California over the recent allegations of "frat boy" behavior towards women in their work environment. The employees already sent a letter to upper management condemning the statements made, which we have not seen a response from (as of when this article was written). We'll keep an eye on the walkout tomorrow for further developments and more on this story.

The famous orc statue at the Blizzard campus in Irvine, California. Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment.

Given last week's statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their legal counsel regarding the DFEH lawsuit, as well as the subsequent internal statement from Frances Townsend, and the many stories shared by current and former employees of Activision Blizzard since, we believe that our values as employees are not being accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership.

As current Activision Blizzard employees, we are holding a walkout to call on the executive leadership team to work with us on the following demands, in order to improve conditions for employees at the company, especially women, and in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.

An end to mandatory arbitration clauses in all employee contracts, current and future. Arbitration clauses protect abusers and limit the ability of victims to seek restitution.

The adoption of recruiting, interviewing, hiring, and promotion policies designed to improve representation among employees at all levels, agreed upon by employees in a company-wide Diversity, Equity & Inclusion organization. Current practices have led to women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups that are vulnerable to gender discrimination not being hired fairly for new roles when compared to men.

Publication of data on relative compensation (including equity grants and profit sharing), promotion rates, and salary ranges for employees of all genders and ethnicities at the company. Current practices have led to aforementioned groups not being paid or promoted fairly.

Empower a company-wide Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion task force to hire a third party to audit ABK's reporting structure, HR department, and executive staff. It is imperative to identify how current systems have failed to prevent employee harassment, and to propose new solutions to address these issues.

Walkout Details

The walkout will take place on Wednesday, July 28th. From 10 AM-2 PM, we'll meet in front of the main gate of the Blizzard Campus. We will not enter the Blizzard Campus due to the current COVID health and security measures. Parking should be restricted to the open parking lot in the building 5 and 6 area (Laguna Canyon Road) as there is no gate to access it.

Employees unable to meet in person may lend their voice to the walkout by stopping work and by sharing their participation on social media with the #ActiBlizzWalkout hashtag. If you belong to a different studio, please feel free to customize the hashtag: #(YourStudio)Walkout.