Antidiscrimination committee formed by former and current Activision Blizzard workers
12 Activision Blizzard employees have developed the Worker Committee Against Sex and Gender Discrimination, a new antidiscrimination committee.
According to a report from The Washington Post, the committee includes current and former employees of the publisher and its subsidiaries. It has made several demands on Activision Blizzard’s leadership, including Bobby Kotick, Chief Executive Officer Kristen Hines, Chief Human Resources Officer Julie Hodges, and Diversity Officer Kristen Hines. The committee demands that mandatory arbitration be ended, independent investigations into sexual harassment and discrimination claims, better facilities for lactating and breastfeeding employees, protection for trans workers, 12 weeks of parental leave, and protection against retaliation.
Emily Knief (Blizzard Senior Motion Graphic Designer) stated that she hoped to join the committee so that there is lasting, meaningful change. “In the end, I want to go to work without thinking about anything other than my work. Based on all the events, even before the headlines broke, it has taken up a significant portion of my day. I have been thinking about leadership in action.
Jessica Taylor, Activision Blizzard spokesperson, pointed out changes made within the company after the State of California lawsuit was filed against the publisher and its studios. She cited the removal of mandatory arbitration and discrimination in the workplace.
Taylor stated that Taylor was grateful for the willingness of these employees to work with him to build an Activision Blizzard that is better and to continue the progress made. We have, for instance, upgraded our lactation facilities and waived arbitration. We also hired new DEI/EEO leaders and worked with employees to make our processes and policies more Trans inclusive. These are just a few of the issues that Taylor raises.
The committee wants private lactation rooms updated, which lactating women can only use. Also, the demands call for a private area to store breastmilk and compensation. This is in addition to not having to clock out or miss pay during shifts. The list of demands for trans employees calls for creating a trans network that is similar to the women’s network within the company. Taylor states that some laws prohibit the removal of employee deadnames from software tools.
Taylor told The Post that employees who notice that we still use legal names where they are not required by law could create an HR ticket or approach an HR team member they trust. “Unfortunately, some jurisdictions require employers to use a legal name.” We use legal names in these cases when required by law.”
