Employees of Activision Blizzard have signed an official petition calling for the resignation of CEO Bobby Kotick. He is alleged to have known about the company’s misconduct but kept it from the board. Furthermore, he allegedly once threatened to have an assistant killed.
This is the situation:
- The Wall Street Journal has published a report stating that Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick was aware of the allegations of sexual abuse against the company. However, instead of fighting them, he is said to have settled out of court. He also allegedly kept these events from the board.
- Previously, Blizzard had come under heavy criticism because in July 2021, a state agency filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard mainly regarding incidents of sexism.
- Following the latest allegations, a group of Activision Blizzard shareholders called for Kotick’s resignation. They claim that the current leadership of Activision Blizzard has failed.
- Now, many employees have also openly spoken out against the CEO.
“We no longer have trust in Bobby Kotick’s leadership”
What kind of petition is this? As reported by Kotaku, the petition was created by the ABK Workers Alliance – a group of employees advocating for labor rights at Activision, Blizzard, and King – (via Kotaku.com).
It received 1,211 signatures from employees, which is about 12% of Activision Blizzard’s total workforce.
What is so special about the petition? This was not an anonymous collection of signatures; each employee signed publicly with their name. They are clearly and deliberately standing against Kotick, which could have consequences if the petition is unsuccessful.
The petition states:
We, the signatories, have no trust left in Bobby Kotick’s leadership as CEO of Activision Blizzard. The information that has come to light regarding his behavior and practices in leading our companies contradicts the culture and integrity that we expect from our leadership and stands in direct opposition to the initiatives launched by our colleagues.
We call for Bobby Kotick to resign from his position as CEO of Activision Blizzard and for shareholders to be allowed to choose a new CEO without Bobby’s involvement, from whom we know he holds a significant portion of the shareholders’ voting rights.
The ABK Workers Alliance has also launched a public petition where Activision Blizzard fans can sign for a demand for Kotick’s resignation (via Change.org). As of now (7:40 AM), over 10,500 people have signed.
The board still stands by Kotick
Why is the petition even necessary? The Wall Street Journal article about Bobby Kotick went online on November 16th. Later that day, the board of Activision Blizzard publicly expressed its support for Kotick.
This was followed by the first employee strikes, criticism from shareholders, and now the petition. A response to this has yet to come.
Even MeinMMO editor-in-chief Leya Jankowski has commented on the situation at Activision Blizzard. She expects that many talents will leave the company if Kotick does not:
If Bobby Kotick does not leave now, Activision Blizzard will lose more talents
