blizzard Critical Open Letter Signed by over 1000 Current and Former Activision Blizzard Employees

[Starym 3,800]

 

An open letter criticizing the company's responses and statements in relation to the lawsuit has been sent to several publications, including Bloomberg (who initially reported on the lawsuit) and Polygon, signed by over 1000 current and former Activision Blizzard employees. 

The letter mentions the "abhorrent and insulting" statements from AB legal counsel and Frances Townsend and that said responses have "damaged our ongoing quest for equality inside and outside of our industry". Read the full statement below:

To the Leaders of Activision Blizzard, We, the undersigned, agree that the statements from Activision Blizzard, Inc. and their legal counsel regarding the DFEH lawsuit, as well as the subsequent internal statement from Frances Townsend, are abhorrent and insulting to all that we believe our company should stand for. To put it clearly and unequivocally, our values as employees are not accurately reflected in the words and actions of our leadership. We believe these statements have damaged our ongoing quest for equality inside and outside of our industry. Categorizing the claims that have been made as “distorted, and in many cases false” creates a company atmosphere that disbelieves victims. It also casts doubt on our organizations’ ability to hold abusers accountable for their actions and foster a safe environment for victims to come forward in the future. These statements make it clear that our leadership is not putting our values first. Immediate corrections are needed from the highest level of our organization. Our company executives have claimed that actions will be taken to protect us, but in the face of legal action — and the troubling official responses that followed — we no longer trust that our leaders will place employee safety above their own interests. To claim this is a “truly meritless and irresponsible lawsuit,” while seeing so many current and former employees speak out about their own experiences regarding harassment and abuse, is simply unacceptable. We call for official statements that recognize the seriousness of these allegations and demonstrate compassion for victims of harassment and assault. We call on Frances Townsend to stand by her word to step down as Executive Sponsor of the ABK Employee Women’s Network as a result of the damaging nature of her statement. We call on the executive leadership team to work with us on new and meaningful efforts that ensure employees — as well as our community — have a safe place to speak out and come forward. We stand with all our friends, teammates, and colleagues, as well as the members of our dedicated community, who have experienced mistreatment or harassment of any kind. We will not be silenced, we will not stand aside, and we will not give up until the company we love is a workplace we can all feel proud to be a part of again. We will be the change.

[Steveson 193]

This is getting juicier every day
munching on popcorn intensifies

[Trepide 6]

All this drama is getting annoying...

Can we talk more about games and less about lawsuit?

[Steveson 193]

4 minutes ago, Trepide said:

All this drama is getting annoying...

Can we talk more about games and less about lawsuit?

[blacktiger1974 24]

48 minutes ago, Trepide said:

All this drama is getting annoying...

Can we talk more about games and less about lawsuit?

Nope. Modern Blizzard games suck, but lawsuit is The Drama!

 

PS: Hate modern 'internet culture' where 'posted on Fakebook/Twitter' = guilty.

[Steveson 193]

5 minutes ago, blacktiger1974 said:

Hate modern 'internet culture' where 'posted on Fakebook/Twitter' = guilty.

There is a difference between "post on  Fakebook/Twitter" and a lawsuit issued by the state after 2 year investigation

[blacktiger1974 24]

22 minutes ago, Steveson said:

There is a difference between "post on  Fakebook/Twitter" and a lawsuit issued by the state after 2 year investigation

2 years investigation of something what was 10 years ago? Interesting way to 'officially' take someone's else money.

Edited July 27, 2021 by blacktiger1974

[Steveson 193]

5 minutes ago, blacktiger1974 said:

2 years investigation of something what was 10 years ago? Interesting way to 'oficially' take someone's else money.

Bruh are we reading the same lawsuit? Becuase this isn't about something that happened to someone 10 years ago. It's about what has been happening at the company AT LARGE to this very day. And what is still flipping going!
Also this is not issued by some random employee holding a grudge. This is class action lawsuit issued by the godsdamn STATE!
Not to mention the backlash from both former and current employees regarding executive's reaction towards it. J Allen Brack gave the same bs dry answer as with Blitzchung situation and don't even get me started on Fran Townsend's abhorrent dismissal that says basically "Dunno what y'all talking about - i've been with this company for decades since March 2021 and noone did anything bad towards me so this lawsuit is incorrect".
And you have the absolute gall to compare this to a "cancel culture"? You are a part of that problem and should be ashamed of yourself.

[Elfomal 55]

1 hour ago, Trepide said:

All this drama is getting annoying...

Can we talk more about games and less about lawsuit?

nope

[Bobbis 208]

1 hour ago, Steveson said:

There is a difference between "post on  Fakebook/Twitter" and a lawsuit issued by the state after 2 year investigation

Until there's a verdict, the only difference is we expect the state to have the evidence, otherwise it's the same.

(Not saying they won't get a guilty one, just pointing it out, guy's got a point)

[Steveson 193]

9 minutes ago, Bobbis said:

Until there's a verdict, the only difference is we expect the state to have the evidence, otherwise it's the same.

(Not saying they won't get a guilty one, just pointing it out, guy's got a point)

He does not. Considering everything that both current and former employees (INCLUDING Mike Morhaime and Chris Metzen themselves) are saying about this situation - it's 100% real.

[Znifler 58]

6 hours ago, blacktiger1974 said:

Nope. Modern Blizzard games suck, but lawsuit is The Drama!

 

PS: Hate modern 'internet culture' where 'posted on Fakebook/Twitter' = guilty.

And yet you cling to this place. 

[Sabejnos 10]

What a situation. I'm fully supporting my ex-coworkers and I've also signed the letter. This is completely unacceptable behaver from the management. But what else to expect from Activision and JAB? 🙂 

[Ragingwolf 310]

6 hours ago, blacktiger1974 said:

2 years investigation of something what was 10 years ago? Interesting way to 'officially' take someone's else money.

So the loss of an employees life due to suicide is a money grab?  Wanting fair wages and respect in the workforce is a money grab?  Not wanting to go to work with the dread, as a female, of being hit on repeatedly with sexual advances and being considered inferior is a money grab?

If you read the legal document that was linked to this site you would understand that this is not a money grab situation of disgruntled employees.  

[Danthalas 15]

1 hour ago, Ragingwolf said:

So the loss of an employees life due to suicide is a money grab?  Wanting fair wages and respect in the workforce is a money grab?  Not wanting to go to work with the dread, as a female, of being hit on repeatedly with sexual advances and being considered inferior is a money grab?

If you read the legal document that was linked to this site you would understand that this is not a money grab situation of disgruntled employees.  

For a lot of people, *filtered* doesn't get real to them until it actually happens to them personally. A lack of empathy for others is a sad reality in this country, unfortunately.

[Celtictexan 0]

EDITED OUT

[Steveson 193]

19 hours ago, Celtictexan said:

EDITED OUT

........is this supposed to be a joke? Because i am not laughing. At all.

[Arcling 898]

10 hours ago, blacktiger1974 said:

Nope. Modern Blizzard games suck, but lawsuit is The Drama!

 

PS: Hate modern 'internet culture' where 'posted on Fakebook/Twitter' = guilty.

This is a lawsuit with results of 2 years of investigation. It's different from those cases when someone just starts putting accusations on social media without legal case. Abuse is stated as a fact, case is about their lack of taking necessary actions to prevent that and also ignoring reported instances of said abuse. Also calling it "the drama" is pretty stupid. Do you also believe that reported suicide is fake?

Edited July 27, 2021 by Arcling

[Bobbis 208]

9 hours ago, Steveson said:

He does not. Considering everything that both current and former employees (INCLUDING Mike Morhaime and Chris Metzen themselves) are saying about this situation - it's 100% real.

No one is denying it's real, or anything like it, what are you on?

I don't doubt there will be a guilty verdict, there'll be some heavy fines, and they'll move on to criminal cases against individuals. However UNTIL the case goes to court, and that verdict comes, BT has a point.

[Aspyn 11]

The lack of empathy much of the WoW community is showing is abhorrent in it's own right. 

[datgrl 3]

In 2012 a film was presented at SXSW - GTFO.  At around 24 minutes in, HOTS is mentioned, with respect to how Blizzard game designers reacted to the suggestion of how female characters in the game should be represented. The film itself is a deep look into the community, the people and companies who make games. 

GTFO: Get the F&#% Out