Amid all the news on Overwatch 2 and Diablo Immortal, Activision Blizzard has filed a document with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in which it affirms that, after an internal investigation, it concluded its own board did not fail to act when presented with allegations of harassment.
“Contrary to many of the allegations, the board and its external advisors have determined that there is no evidence to suggest that Activision Blizzard senior executives ever intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were reported,” Activision Blizzard wrote in the filing.
The report does acknowledge there were problems within the company and that such a conclusion does little to address the concerns of those harmed. “Indeed, a single instance of someone feeling diminished at Activision Blizzard is one too many,” it wrote. However, in a report from one of the consultants Activision Blizzard engaged to review harassment filings and the company’s responses, the document said, “based on the volume of reports, the amount of misconduct reflected is comparatively low for a company the size of Activision Blizzard.” It’s kind of strange to say in one breath “one is too many” and then cite a consultant saying it could have been worse.
But, in another example of “you could just not say that,” the company took a swipe at the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) — which tried to block the EEOC settlement since it might release the company from the state’s own case against it — and the media.
“It must be said that the company has been subject to an unrelenting barrage of media criticism that attempts to paint the entire company (and many innocent employees) with the stain of a very small portion of our employee population who engaged in bad behavior and were disciplined for it,” the company wrote. “Much of this originated with the highly inflammatory, made-for-press allegations of the DFEH.”
