28 July 2021
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick sent a lengthy letter to employees late on Tuesday, listing steps the company will take to address widespread allegations of sexist and discriminatory conduct at the "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" gaming company.
Why it matters: This was the most comprehensive message from the company, and a softer one than had been sent by Kotick's PR people and a top executive last week.
- "I want to recognize and thank all those who have come forward in the past and in recent days," Kotick wrote.
- "Every voice matters — and we will do a better job of listening now, and in the future. Our initial responses to the issues we face together, and to your concerns, were, quite frankly, tone deaf."
Driving the news: In his letter, Kotick said the company would:
- Start listening sessions and "continue to investigate each and every claim."
- Terminate any managers "found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences."
- Add resources to "ensure" managers were adhering to a prior directive to consider diverse candidates to all positions.
Between the lines: Last Tuesday, California filed a lawsuit against the company over its "sexist culture."
- The suit included allegations of unequal, discriminatory pay and allegations of a toxic sexist culture that included drunken male employees harassing female employees in their cubicles.
- It also alleged that an employee who died by suicide may have been subjected to repeated sexual harassment.
- A senior executive had described the suit as "distorted," "untrue," "meritless," and "out of date."
Of note: Employees announced earlier in the day plans for a walkout on Wednesday.
- They issued a list of demands, including an independent investigation and an end to contracts that mandate arbitration to resolve disputes.
- "It is imperative to identify how current systems have failed to prevent employee harassment, and to propose new solutions to address these issues," the workers said in a statement shared with Axios.
- In his letter, Kotick said the company has asked the firm WilmerHale to review company policies and said that work will be led by Stephanie Avakian, who most recently served as a director in the SEC's enforcement division during the Trump administration.
What to watch: The company also said it would also delete "inappropriate" in-game content in "World of Warcraft."
- That could be a reference to characters in the game who are named after a long-time former creative lead on the game who is now accused in the California suit of sexual harassment.
- An Activision PR rep did not reply by press time to clarify.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.
