Activision Blizzard Employees Speak Out Against the Company's Response to DFEH Lawsuit

Almost 1,000 former and current Activision Blizzard employees have signed an open letter that speaks out against the company’s response to a lawsuit filed by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). The DFEH submitted a report following a two-year investigation accusing the company of discrimination and toxicity in the workplace among other allegations. The studio responded stating that the DFEH distorted facts in the report. It led to an uproar from the existing and former employees with many of them speaking out about incidents at the company.

The reason behind the backlash against Activision Blizzard

The reason why former and existing employees from Activision Blizzard are upset over the company’s statements is that it dismissed the claims by the DFEH. According to Bloomberg Law, the company said that the DFEH’s reports “includes distorted, and in many cases false, descriptions of Blizzard’s past." It went on to state, "We have been extremely cooperative with the DFEH throughout their investigation, including providing them with extensive data and ample documentation, but they refused to inform us what issues they perceived.”

The employees are dissatisfied with Activision Blizzard’s responses. The open letter to Blizzard highlights the disappointment of the employees. The letter states that “values as employees are not accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership.”

Following its initial statement to Bloomberg, Activision Blizzard has been silent on the recent activity on social media. Multiple people associated with Activision Blizzard have shared their own experiences at the company amidst the controversy and want to hold the company accountable for its alleged toxic work culture.

What do the Activision Blizzard employees want?

The open letter asks for recognition of the allegations made by the DFEH as well as other existing and former employees in the organization. It also wants Blizzard to demonstrate compassion for the victims of harassment and assault. The employees want Frances Townsend to step down as executive sponsor of the ABK Employee Women’s Network. Frances Townsend has been criticized for showing support towards Activision Blizzard. An excerpt from her statement can be seen in the tweet below.

Additionally, the employees also want the executive leadership team to work with them towards creating a safe space to speak out and come forward with their experiences at the company.

The goal of the letter is to bring change to the organization but Activision Blizzard is yet to make an official response to the letter. It remains to be seen if the company accepts the demands of its existing and former employees who signed the open letter calling out the company’s recent response to the DFEH.