Activision Blizzard shareholders vote to publish annual abuse, harassment, and discrimination report

Activision Blizzard shareholders have voted to approve a proposal that the company should publish an annual report detailing the effectiveness and outcomes of its efforts to prevent abuse, harassment, and discrimination in its workplace - a non-binding vote Activision has, as yet, only said it will "carefully consider".

The proposal, originally raised by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli in February, requested that Activision publically release an annual report detailing several key metrics: the total number of pending sexual abuse, harassment or discrimination complaints the company is seeking to resolve through internal processes or ligation; details of the company's progress toward reducing the average time it takes to resolve sexual abuse, harassment or discrimination complaints; the amount of money it has spent settling disputes related to sexual abuse, harassment or discrimination, and finally pay and hours worked consolidated data.

While this kind of transparency might seem prudent given the shocking allegations that have surfaced in relation to Activision Blizzard's workplace practices over the last year, and given that the publisher remains embroiled in a number of lawsuits relating to those practices - including last July's State of California filing, which called the company a "breeding ground for harassment and discrimination against women" - the company's board of directors instead wrote to shareholders in May unanimously urging them to vote against the proposal.

Read more