{"id":1709,"date":"2022-11-17T06:48:18","date_gmt":"2022-11-17T06:48:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/itparadise.net\/2020\/11\/17\/activision-blizzard-employees-walk-out-of-work-to-protest-rampant-sexism-and-discrimination\/"},"modified":"2022-11-24T15:41:09","modified_gmt":"2022-11-24T15:41:09","slug":"activision-blizzard-employees-walk-out-of-work-to-protest-rampant-sexism-and-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/?p=1709","title":{"rendered":"Activision Blizzard employees walk out of work to protest rampant sexism and discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday morning, hundreds of Blizzard employees rallied outside the company\u2019s main campus in Irvine, California to protest the company\u2019s handling of sexual harassment and discrimination charges. They\u2019re asking the gaming studio to agree to four demands, including ending mandatory arbitration in all employment contracts. \u201cUntil these demands are met, we won\u2019t stop fighting,\u201d a walkout representative tells The Verge<\/em>. <\/p>\n

The move comes after the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) sued Activision Blizzard on July 20th, alleging the company had a pervasive \u201cfrat boy\u201d culture where female employees were constantly harassed, discriminated against, and underpaid. <\/p>\n

The lawsuit alleged a male employee nicknamed his BlizzCon 2013 hotel room the \u201cCosby Suite.\u201d A Kotaku investigation later found that multiple other employees were aware of the name. \u201cWe\u2019re really glad to see these stories are being told and appreciate the journalists who are telling these stories,\u201d a walkout representative tells The Verge<\/em>. \u201cWe stand by the victims and are appalled by what we read. This only makes us more committed to our task.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the protest, employees stood shoulder to shoulder across two city blocks, holding signs that read \u201csend the frat boys back to school\u201d and \u201cwomen in the video game industry deserve a safe place to work.\u201d The energy was hopeful, almost light, despite the 80-degree heat. There were no protest chants, just chatter among colleagues. Around the corner, organizers had erected a tent for protestors, complete with water and snacks.<\/p>\n

Employees say the lawsuit was a watershed moment for the company, which previously isolated victims of sexual harassment. \u201cThere was validation, and there was education,\u201d a walkout representative says. \u201cIt was a way for people to realize that if they experienced something like this they were not an isolated case. And there was an opportunity for folks who maybe did partake in this but did not realize that it\u2019s toxic behavior to learn that it\u2019s toxic behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

Journalists were instructed not to speak directly with protestors, for fear footage of the conversations would out sources.<\/p>\n

These anxieties aren\u2019t entirely unfounded. During its two-year investigation, DFEH found numerous instances of retaliation. <\/p>\n

Activision Blizzard initially denied the allegations, with chief compliance officer Frances Townsend saying, \u201cwe cannot let egregious actions of others, and a truly meritless lawsuit, damage our culture of respect and equal opportunity for all employees,\u201d according to Axios<\/em>. Townsend previously served as homeland security advisor to George W. Bush. She joined Activision Blizzard in January. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re taking something that has existed and permeated through the gaming industry for decades and beginning to build a movement\u201d<\/q><\/aside>\n

On Tuesday, CEO Bobby Kotick wrote a public letter calling the initial response \u201ctone deaf.\u201d He noted the company was engaging WilmerHale, an outside law firm, to audit its \u201cpolicies and procedures.\u201d Last year, Pinterest hired WilmerHale to investigate its company culture after two prominent Black women who\u2019d worked at the company went public with allegations of racism and discrimination. <\/p>\n

Activision Blizzard employees say the latest note from executives \u2014 while encouraging \u2014 does not go far enough. \u201cRight now they aren\u2019t listening to us,\u201d a walkout representative says. \u201cThey\u2019ve made that very clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to taking forced arbitration out of employment contracts, employees want the company to overhaul its hiring and promotion processes, publish salary and promotion data, and hire an outside firm to audit the executive team. <\/p>\n

They say that ending mandatory arbitration is particularly important so employees who\u2019ve experienced harassment can come together to push for change. Doing so would \u201cremove the feeling of isolation and allow for more solidarity with one another,\u201d a walkout representative says. \u201cIn addition to that, it helps mitigate the risk of retaliation \u2014 that is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Employees won\u2019t say what actions they have planned next. When asked if staff plans to unionize, organizers simply said, \u201cno comment.\u201d Still, they made it clear the walkout is not the end. \u201cWe\u2019re taking something that has existed and permeated through the gaming industry for decades and beginning to build a movement,\u201d a spokesperson says. \u201cSo it\u2019s important to remember where we came from with our demands, what the end goal is and not lose sight of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday morning, hundreds of Blizzard employees rallied outside the company\u2019s main campus in Irvine,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[79,78,77,81,80],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1709"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1995,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions\/1995"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/itparadise.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}