Activision Blizzard “considering” proposal to share harassment data publicly

Activision Blizzard shareholders voted in favor of the company preparing and releasing a harassment report during the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. 

The California Department of Fair and Employment filed a lawsuit in July 2021 alleging workplace harassment in Activision Blizzard offices. The company was also sued for misleading shareholders regarding the lawsuit.

Activision Blizzard conducted an internal investigation and on June 16 reported that there was “no widespread harassment” within the company.

On June 21 Activision Blizzard held its annual Meeting of Stockholders and according to an official press release, approximately 67% of the voting shares voted in favor of a non-binding proposal to release an official report of the company’s internal harassment investigation.

Activision Blizzard shareholders vote for a public harassment report

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli proposed in February that the company publicly reports its efforts to stop workplace discrimination and harassment.

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DiNapoli told the Washington Post “shareholders’ majority vote speaks loudly. Activision Blizzard needs to restore investor confidence and increase transparency on how it handles workplace harassment and discrimination. We expect swift action from the company on our concerns.”

Activision Blizzard’s official response to the proposal was, “we will carefully consider the proposal to enhance our future disclosures…We believe that transparency with our stakeholders is critical to our commitment to the very best governance practices.”

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Joost van Dreunen, a lecturer on the business of games at the New York University Stern School of Business told the Wall Street Journal, “it is clear to me from these voting results that shareholders do not see the need to incur any meaningful changes to the operational structure, other than collaborating with the NYS comptroller.”

The proposal is non-binding so Activision does not have to release an official report. We will provide an update if an official report is released by the company.