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  1. #1

    Employee Response to Bobby Kotick, Additional Information on Cosby Suite

    Employee Response to Bobby Kotick's Statement
    The Verge has posted an employee response to Bobby Kotick's letter.
    Originally Posted by MMO-Champion
    On the evening before our employee walkout, Activision Blizzard leadership released a statement apologizing for their harmful responses to last week’s DFEH lawsuit. While we are pleased to see that our collective voices — including an open letter with thousands of signatures from current employees — have convinced leadership to change the tone of their communications, this response fails to address critical elements at the heart of employee concerns.

    Activision Blizzard’s response did not address the following:

    • The end of forced arbitration for all employees.
    • Worker participation in oversight of hiring and promotion policies.
    • The need for greater pay transparency to ensure equality.
    • Employee selection of a third party to audit HR and other company processes.

    Today’s walkout will demonstrate that this is not a one-time event that our leaders can ignore. We will not return to silence; we will not be placated by the same processes that led us to this point.

    This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees, especially women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.

    We expect a prompt response and a commitment to action from leadership on the points enumerated above, and look forward to maintaining a constructive dialogue on how to build a better Activision Blizzard for all employees.

    Today, we stand up for change. Tomorrow and beyond, we will be the change.



    Additional Information on Cosby Suite
    Kotaku published some additional information about the Cosby Suite. It also confirms that Afrasiabi was terminated for his misconduct in 2020.

    Reddit users have also posted about related tweets that aren't in the article.

    An employee brought these 2013 events to our attention in June 2020," a spokesperson for Activision Blizzard told Kotaku when asked about the “Cosby Suite” images and allegations against Afrasiabi. “We immediately conducted our own investigation and took corrective action. At the time of the report, we had already conducted a separate investigation of Alex Afrasiabi and terminated him for his misconduct in his treatment of other employees.

    Last edited by chaud; 2021-07-28 at 09:48 PM.

  2. #2
    I do sort of appreciate that ghostcrawler's entire contribution to that chat is that he's at the bar.

  3. #3
    Here's what Blizzard will do. If you are unhappy, there's the door....... It is the mantra of all corporations

  4. #4
    Bloodsail Admiral Femininity's Avatar
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    So they closed the 11-page active thread about this, just to repost it on the front page?

    Wut.
    Remember: Words are not violence.
    Make your own groups!!!

  5. #5
    This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees, especially women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.
    Love the subtle hierarchy here. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Nimin View Post
    Love the subtle hierarchy here. All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
    That's what you got out of that comment?

  7. #7
    Stood in the Fire
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    Please spell check the fucking title of an article.

  8. #8
    Worker participation in oversight of hiring and promotion policies.

    KEKW

  9. #9
    Quote Originally Posted by Firebeast View Post
    Here's what Blizzard will do. If you are unhappy, there's the door....... It is the mantra of all corporations
    There is that, of course, but on the other hand Blizzard also can't really lose too many people at a time where they're already under fire for the quality of their products. Competitors are sure to jump on this, and try to poach whatever talent they can. Power disparities between employer and employees are real, no doubt, but it's not like the employees have NO power - especially if backed by a public who's just about run out of goodwill.

    That being said, it'll be a negotiation. They're unlikely to get everything they want, but getting more than what they currently have is definitely far from impossible. In particular, I doubt that there'll be employee participation/oversight in all the management aspects they mentioned; but increased pay transparency and some extra say in diversity etc. are entirely conceivable goals.

    Pay transparency in general is something we should all be fighting for, by the way. It pretty much only benefits employers, who keep their workers in the dark so they can squeeze them for what they can. "You don't discuss salaries" is a strange custom that's been implanted during the early days of capitalism, and almost entirely works against employees. Not every industry and not every society have them, and high pay transparency is almost universally beneficial for employees.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Firebeast View Post
    Here's what Blizzard will do. If you are unhappy, there's the door....... It is the mantra of all corporations
    while i do generally agree with such statements, i also have zero sympathy for these multibillion public stock corporations, nothing in the world is more heartless than them.

  11. #11
    They don't have a union or a bargaining unit so I don't know what they really expect beyond Acti-Blizz cleaning up the immediate mess from the DFEH lawsuit. Ending arbitration won't be on the table, worker oversight of hiring and promotion won't be on the table, and more pay transparency probably won't happen.

    They are very likely to get a 3rd party audit of HR and related processes.

    I would love to see them form a union out of this (and to see that spread to more game devs), but I'm not holding my breath.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Trbn View Post
    Worker participation in oversight of hiring and promotion policies.

    KEKW
    The solution to nepotism is more nepotism. I'm sure there won't be any "hire/promote our buddies" going on with this.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by iamthedevil View Post
    That's what you got out of that comment?
    it is when you think any of that translates to = white men bad. which it really doesn't but the fact it gets so much pushback is kind of a give away.

  14. #14
    Mechagnome Chilela's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Trbn View Post
    Worker participation in oversight of hiring and promotion policies.

    KEKW
    [nepotism intensifies]

    EDIT: Got beaten to the punch wew

  15. #15
    Oh man this shit-storm just keeps on getting bigger. Cosby also wasn’t accused until 2014, and that picture is apparently from 2013, so that raises some eyebrows.

  16. #16
    The Patient
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    The only mics being dropped are those of the California DFEH.

    I never thought we'd be seeing evidence of this magnitude surface before the lawsuit got to the courtroom. This is damning to say the least.

  17. #17
    I'm pretty sure 90% of us here are at least in one friend whatsapp group / discord community where casual discussion like that happens on a daily basis ....

    This is gaming comunity and i'm pretty sure E V E R Y gaming company has this chat group somewhere.

    I think Kotaku should now go and ask Afrasiabi elementary school teacher if he already hit a black kid or pulled some girls hair so twitter can go :SHOCKER:

  18. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by dalrint View Post
    I do sort of appreciate that ghostcrawler's entire contribution to that chat is that he's at the bar.
    I kind of get the sense that Street was in the boys club because that was expected of all senior staff, but gradually edged his way out the door as he didn't like what he saw. I find it telling that he jumped, wasn't pushed, at a time when Blizzard was flying high. His departure was quite surprising at the time.

  19. #19
    OMG this may already been posted but OMG, love the first minute of this interview and how he admits to "touch everything". No shit Sherlock, what a loser.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeJPYSap1Hw
    looking out of my lonely room day after day

  20. #20
    It took SEVEN YEARS to fire the guy. Gee, I wonder why people are upset...

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