As the inadequacies of Activision Blizzard and its inability to be a company of inclusiveness are laid bare, former Blizzard co-lead Jennifer Oneal revealed that she was offered equal pay after she had already resigned. Initially suggesting that her and her counterpart Mike Ybarra be paid equally, Oneal was turned down, and thus chose to resign. It was then that Blizzard decided to offer her a role with pay on equal footing to her other co-lead.
Mike Ybarra said in a statement to his employees that he is commited to "fostering [growth] with all of [Blizzard]" and that equality is something he stands firmly behind. He insists that both he and Oneal did their best to convince Activision Blizzard of eqaul pay but were initially turned down. He ends the message saying that he, like his employees, is "struggling in areas" with the chaos unfolding at the company at the moment.
One employee expressed confusion as to why, especially after everything that has been outed at the company over the past year, Blizzard would reject a request for equal pay among two co-leads. It appears as if Ybarra and Oneal were on seperate pre-existing contracts, and that when offered the contract for co-leads of the company, they would be compensated equally. Oneal stresses that wasn't the case and upon entering the new role as co-leads, their pay was unequivalent for a solid amount of time despite her and Ybarra's repeated attempts to request for parity. She says that Blizzard had indeed been working on a new proposal for the two co-leads, but that the offer only made its way to her after she had tendered her resignation. Why Activision Blizzard denied equal pay is, at this time, unclear.
Along with the issue of equal pay for a co-lead position, information has surfaced of another reason as to why Oneal decided to resign from Activision Blizzard. In her letter to Activision Blizzard's legal division detailing the issue with pay, Oneal also stressed that she was feeling "tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against" within the company. This of course mirrors the feelings of many Activision Blizzard employees in this past year, prompting restructuring in many areas within the company.
It has been a tough, winding road for Activision Blizzard this past year, as just this week it was revealed that CEO Bobby Kotick was well aware of major allegations within his company but failed to take any action on the matter. Along with numerous lawsuits, Activision Blizzard as a company, is dealing with many spinning plates at the moment. Employees ignited a walkout fueled by the desire to replace their CEO immediately, but Activision Blizzard's board members have stood by Kotick. It would seem that Activision Blizzard will need a good amount of restructing in the coming months and years.
Source: IGN