Activision Blizzard has been a hot topic since July, when the first of several lawsuits pertaining to sexual harassment and discrimination was filed against it. In the next chapter of this ongoing saga, Activision Blizzard has announced the formation of the Workplace Responsibility Committee–a task force meant to act as a liaison between the company and board of directors, but currently helmed by two independent members of the board itself.
The goal of this new Committee is to ensure initiatives to eliminate harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and to improve the culture of Activision Blizzrad by creating “a healthy workplace in which all employees feel falued, safe, and respected.” The Workplace Responsibility Committee will be working closely with the ABK Board of Directors, the Audit Committee, and the incoming Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator and Consultant, as agreed upon in the settlement with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in late September.
The Committee currently has only two members. Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content Officer of Spotify, will be chairing the Committee, and non-profit and education administrator Reveta Bowers will serve on it. However, both women are currently independent directors on Activision Blizzard’s board. The company is currently working on adding “a new, diverse director to the Board,” as well.
Activision Blizzard has been in hot water for the better part of the last year. After several lawsuits, protests, and petitions over the course of months, Activision Blizzard finally addressed the concerns of its players, workers, and constituents, making motions to improve its games, communities, and workplace cultures. However, not weeks after cutting his salary and supposedly implementing a zero-tolerance policy for harassment, CEO Bobby Kotick was accused of being complicit in maintaining the toxic status quo that plagues the company.
The choice of assignments to the Workplace Responsibility Committee has most people rolling their eyes. As both current members are also on the board of directors, there is an obvious conflict of interest. Though Ostroff and Bowers are independent directors, they are still beholden to the board and Kotick. By supporting the CEO and any other members of the board who seek to protect him despite outcry of Activision constituents against Kotick, the Committee will have already failed in its purpose.
However, there is still a chance, slim as it is, the board could still help in theory. After all, massive numbers of Activision Blizzard employees are calling for the termination of Kotick, and the company has earned enough negative press that gaming industry giants like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are condemning Activision Blizzard, to the point of considering pulling Activision game support from their systems. If the independent directors on the Committee truly act as liaisons to the people they are supposed to be helping, Ostroff and Bowers could influence the Board of Directors to let Kotick go to save face with their employees, partners, and constituents.
Source: Activision