Over 1,500 Activision Blizzard employees are standing up against management. They demand change in a letter and will not be silenced.
The sexism and discrimination scandal at Activision Blizzard is gaining more and more attention. Now there is an open letter addressing the company’s management. More than 1,500 employees of Activision Blizzard are clearly voicing their opposition to the actions of the executives and demanding one thing above all: consequences.
What kind of letter is this? This is an open letter from numerous employees at Activision Blizzard, primarily aimed at the company’s management. Initially, there were “only” about 800 signatures, but this number has risen to over 1,500 in the past few hours.
What is being demanded? Above all, the signing employees are demanding that the management releases a new statement and reconsiders their views. There are concerns that the management’s perspective does not take victims seriously, making a harmonious coexistence virtually impossible.
However, clear consequences are also being demanded. It is advocated that Frances Townsend, who previously published a statement from Blizzard that dismissed many of the allegations as “false and inappropriate”, should resign.
Townsend had published an official statement from Blizzard a few days ago, stating that they find the lawsuit and the allegations made to be outrageous and “in many cases untrue”. The agency operates “shamefully and unprofessionally”. Given that numerous current and former employees are bringing forward more and more incidents of discrimination and harassment, the anger among many is boiling over.
What else is in the letter? The open letter, while not very long, contains a clear stance from over 1,500 employees. They show solidarity with the victims and aim to foster a culture where abuse and discrimination have no place, allowing victims to come forward at any time to highlight such incidents. We have translated the letter for you:
To the management of Blizzard
We, the signatories, agree that the statements from Activision Blizzard and their legal counsel regarding [the lawsuit] as well as the subsequent internal statement from Frances Townsend are abhorrent and offensive to everything we thought we stood for as a company. To be clear, our values as employees are not reflected in the words and actions of our leadership.
We believe that these statements have harmed our ongoing efforts for equal treatment both within and outside our industry. Categorizing the allegations as “distorted and in many cases false” creates an atmosphere where victims are not believed. It also raises doubts about our company’s ability to hold abusers accountable or to create a safe environment where victims can come forward. These statements clearly show that our leadership does not prioritize these values. Immediate rectification is necessary, and it must come from the highest level of the company.
Our management has claimed that actions will be taken to protect us, but in light of the lawsuit – and the problematic official responses that followed – we no longer trust our leadership to prioritize the safety of its employees over its own interests. The claim that this is a “meritless and irresponsible lawsuit” while so many current and former employees come forward with their own experiences of abuse and harassment is simply unacceptable.
We demand official statements that acknowledge the seriousness of these allegations and demonstrate empathy for the victims of harassment and other assaults. We call on Frances Townsend to stand by her word and resign as Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women’s Network due to the damaging nature of her statements. We urge our leadership team to work with us on new and meaningful efforts that ensure employees – and our community – have a safe place to [speak openly about incidents].
We stand united with all our friends, colleagues, and the members of our dedicated community who have experienced abuse and harassment in any form. We will not be silenced, we will not back down, and we will not give up until the company we love is once again a workplace that we can be proud to be a part of. We will be the change.
The relevant executives at Activision Blizzard have not yet released a response to the letter.
What do you think of this statement from the employees? Is it a good, strong sign?
