Since July, Activision Blizzard has been involved with a lawsuit, filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing, for its harassment and treatment of women in the workplace. It has been a very public matter, with Activision Blizzard’s initial response criticized as tone deaf, with employees speaking out against the company, with repugnant details like Blizzard’s Cosby Suite emerging, with a couple of more lawsuits being filed alongside the first one, and more. Most recently, Activision Blizzard’s request to pause the lawsuit was denied
At the heart of it, of course, has been Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, who has outlined planned changes and more in the past. Now, he seems to be taking new action, having asked the company’s board of directors to reduce his salary to a total of $62,500. As reported by GamesIndustry.biz, this is the lowest possible amount under California Law, and Kotick has asked this last “until substantial changes are made to improve the firm’s workplace culture.”
Previously, Kotick had taken a 50% pay cut that reduced his salary to $875,000 per year, though this amount did take bonuses into account. It should be noted that this came before the lawsuit filed by California, and this latest action cuts that down dramatically. Furthermore, Kotick will not receive any additional compensation, bonuses, or the like on top of the new salary until the Board has determined that its transformational, gender-related goals are fulfilled.
Following a review by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Kotick also shared five changes the company is dedicated to making, among which include a company-wide, zero-tolerance for harassment policy with stronger monitoring and stricter rules. Retaliation against complaints will also result in immediate termination.
Activision Blizzard will also increase the number of women and non-binary people at 50% and invest $250 million in more opportunities for diverse talent over the next five years. Over the next years, an additional $250 million is to be invested into new opportunities for under-represented communities within the gaming and technology space. Finally, as noted by GamesIndustry.biz, Activision Blizzard also intends to wave the required arbitration of sexual harassment/discrimination claims and increase its visibility regarding pay equality.
At the end of the day, how successful the company is and how much it holds to these new policies, changes, and ideas remain to be seen. Yet, oftentimes, many are concerned if such actions are performative in nature and not genuinely indicative of real change, and this is true of the Activision Blizzard lawsuit and everything that followed it too. This could still be the case, as many aren't convinced with this action given his net worth is roughly $600 million, but not taking $800,000/year is still a lot regardless. When it comes to introducing real change at the company, Activision Blizzard CEO Kotick seems to be putting his money where his mouth is, at the very least.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz