In June 21, gaming company Activision Blizzard announced that it will now release public reports on the effectiveness of the company's attempts to reduce employee discrimination, abuse, and harassment.
This is amid the several cases that the company is facing after its former employees, accused it of allowing a toxic workplace.
Activision Blizzard's Public Report
In March, several female employees stepped forward and accused Activision Blizzard of mistreatment and abuse.
The employees allege that they had endured harassment by their male colleagues and that they were looked over when it came to promotion.
A judge has approved a settlement with the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission after the agency found substantial evidence of abuse, sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation inside the company.
Microsoft is currently in the middle of purchasing Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion.
Activision Blizzard's Settlement
Activision Blizzard's shareholders called for a report that would detail the number of cases and the total amount of money that Activision Blizzard has spent to settle claims of discrimination, abuse, or harassment of protected classes of employees since 2019.
Also, the proposal also stated that the public report should include information on pending cases, compensation data, and the number of hours that the employees have worked, according to The Washington Post.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund wrote a proposal and stated that the report is meant to assist shareholders in assessing whether Activision Blizzard is improving its management, whether its "actions align with the company's public statements," and whether its environment is deemed sustainable.
In the proposal, New York State Common Retirement Fund also added that civil rights violations within the workplace, including sexual abuse, discrimination, and harassment, "can result in substantial costs to companies." This includes penalties, fines, costs related to absenteeism, legal costs, and reduced productivity among employees.
Activision Blizzard's board opposed the proposal, saying that producing another report would be costly. The company's board also argued that the report would use metrics that are not even used to track how the gaming company is dealing with the concerns of its employees.
Glass Lewis, a proxy advisory firm, voiced its support of the public report, citing the cases that the company is facing regarding harassment, discrimination, and retaliation against its female employees.
However, the gaming company pushed back, saying that the articles about the cases should not be the basis of the proposal, according to CNBC.
Institutional Shareholder Service recommended the proposal, too, noting that Activision Blizzard does not seem to be keeping up with best practices around announcing its goals for equity, inclusion, and diversity.
Last week, the company's independent directors stated that the board and advisors found that there is no evidence to suggest that its senior executives ignored or downplayed the reports of harassment.
The Wall Street Journal reported back in November that Activision Blizzard's CEO Bobby Kotick had received information about harassment in the workplace but did not share all of the information with the board.
In a statement released by Activision Blizzard after the results of their annual meeting revealed that 67% of the voting shares came down in favor of the new measure, the company said that they would carefully consider the proposal to enhance their future disclosures.
Related Article: Activision Blizzard's Anti-Harassment Committee Not Functional? Here's Why Critics Claim It's Only for Symbolism
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Written by Sophie Webster
