The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announced Friday that Activision Blizzard has agreed to pay $35 million to settle an investigation into the company’s handling of allegations of workplace harassment and discrimination.
In an executive order, the SEC said workplace misconduct complaints at Activision Blizzard have not been “collected or analyzed for disclosure purposes” since at least 2018. “Workplace Misconduct” and therefore cannot warn investors of the potential business risks associated with these complaints.
The SEC also found that Activision required departing employees to enter into “separation agreements” that illegally required them to “notify Activision Blizzard of requests from governmental agencies in connection with their reports or complaints.” bottom. This violates SEC rules designed to protect whistleblowers and prohibit employers from interfering with employee complaints to government agencies.
According to the SEC, Activision began implementing “company-wide structural changes” to workplace misconduct complaints beginning in May 2020, changing the language of its severance agreement in early 2022.
By resolving these matters out of court, Activision avoids making formal admissions of wrongdoing. Activision Blizzard said in a statement provided to Ars Technica, “We are pleased to have resolved this matter amicably.” This was done as part of our ongoing commitment to operational excellence and transparency. Activision Blizzard prides itself on workplace disclosure. “
Despite the size of the settlement, the payment is less than 0.4% of Activision Blizzard’s annual revenue of $8.8 billion (as of 2021), so the impact on the company’s bottom line is likely to be minimal. Settling the matter out of court could make the complaint no longer complicated by Microsoft’s plans to acquire his Activision for $69 billion, which is facing government headwinds from the Federal Trade Commission. It also means having no sex.
Today’s settlement follows the $18 million settlement the company made with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2021.
