On August 25, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a new complaint against Activision Blizzard. The complaint pointed out that the personnel department of Activision Blizzard failed to destroy relevant documents in accordance with legal requirements.
According to a media report by Axios, physical documents related to investigations and complaints were destroyed by the human resources department, and related emails were deleted 30 days after the employee left.
DFEH also fixed their misspelling of Bill Cosby’s name, in case you were wondering.
— Stephen Totilo (@stephentotilo) August 24, 2021
Activision Blizzard’s human resources department has been named and condemned by many employees. They generally stated that the department took almost no measures for discrimination and sexual harassment in the company. After the allegations were released, Activision Blizzard employees responded quickly on Twitter.
“It alleges, in part, that “documents related to investigations and complaints were shredded by human resource personnel” in violation of what it asserts is the game company’s legal obligation to retain them pending the investigation.“
Yikes. #ABetterABK #EndAbuseInGaming https://t.co/mXJ1HV82BF
— Sean 💙 Respect, Accountability, Transparency (@seanmiddleditch) August 24, 2021
After being asked to respond, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson issued the following statement to IGN:
During our cooperation with DFEH, we have been complying with all appropriate requirements to support its review, even though we have been implementing reforms to ensure that our workplace is friendly and safe for every employee. These changes continue today and include:
- Many senior personnel changes;
- Improved recruitment and recruitment practices that require diverse interview groups;
- Improve the transparency of pay equity;
- Expand and improve the training and investigation capabilities of human resources and compliance personnel;
- Establish investigation teams outside of the business department to support greater independence;
- Reorganize the department to support greater accountability;
- Strengthen the review process, including employee assessment of managers;
- Clear boundaries for workplace behavior, and zero tolerance for harassment and other reduced or marginalized behaviors.
We strive to become a company that recognizes and celebrates diverse talents and perspectives that lead to the creation of great, globally attractive entertainment. We have provided DFEH with clear evidence that we have no gender pay or promotion differences.
Our senior leadership is becoming more and more diverse, and more and more women are holding key leadership roles throughout the company. We agree with DFEH’s goal of establishing a safe and inclusive workplace, rewarding employees fairly, and being committed to setting an example that others can follow.
Subsequently, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson further revised the statement and explicitly denied the California DFEH’s allegations of file destruction: The claims that we destroy information by destroying files are completely false. We take appropriate measures to preserve DFEH investigations. Related Information.
