Don’t Worry Guys, After Conducting An Investigation Blizzard Has Cleared Itself Of Wrongdoing

After a thorough investigation of...itself, Activision Blizzard has concluded that “there is no evidence to suggest [the company’s] senior executives ever intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were reported”. The investigation, headed up by the Workplace Responsibility Committee working under the Board of Directors, sent a report to shareholders stating that “contrary to many of the allegations, the Board and its external advisors have determined that there is no evidence to suggest that Activision Blizzard senior executives ever intentionally ignored or attempted to downplay the instances of gender harassment that occurred and were reported.”

The good(?) news is that the report does admit that there are “some substantiated instances of gender harassment” but adds that “those unfortunate circumstances” don’t actually mean that the Board or senior leadership “were aware of and tolerated” it. They also state that it doesn’t indicate a “systemic issue with harassment, discrimination, or retaliation.”

Effectively, this report is intended to negate the allegations put forth by the DFEH in their lawsuit and later claims that CEO Bobby Kotick not only didn’t report a settlement with a rape victim at Sledgehammer Games, but also threatened to have his own female assistant killed via voicemail, among a myriad of other things.

According to the report given to shareholders, the investigation looked into email communications notes, and other documents. The Workplace Responsibility Committee also reportedly interviewed former and current employees. Of course, they weren’t overly detailed about what came out of any of that. Nor did they explain exactly how they went about conducting the investigation, or share what information was given to outside consultants.

One of these consultants, who concluded there weren’t any signs of “widespread harassment”, a “pattern or practice of harassment or systemic harassment” between September 2016 and December 2021 was EEOC Gilbert Casellas. Neither he nor the company has been willing to share any more details on the investigation.

The report did admit that there were “truths about [the] company” that “can be difficult to reconcile.” But, the big takeaway was that the company is seemingly being victimized with an “unrelenting barrage of media criticism.”

Of course, the big question here is how someone can investigate themselves. It seems like it might not be ethical? But apparently, Activision Blizzard has found a way. Of course, if this were a case of the leaders of a company investigating claims against lower staff members, that would make sense. But when many of the claims are against members of the board, including the CEO, the entire thing becomes beyond questionable and easily becomes a case of, “I have investigated myself, and found myself innocent."