Activision CEO Bobby Kotick Knew About Sexual Misconduct at the Company for Years - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 16 November 2021 / 1,788 Views
Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick knew for years about the sexual misconduct allegations, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The report says the co-head of Activision's Treyarch studio Dan Bunting was accused of sexually harassing a female employee in 2017 after a night od drinking an was recommended to be fired in 2019 after an internal investigation from the human-resources department and other supervisors.
Kotick intervened to make sure Bunting was not fired, according to people familiar with the incident. Bunting was given counseling and allowed to remain with the company.
An Activision spokeswoman on an outside investigation done in 2020 said, "After considering potential actions in light of that investigation, the company elected not to terminate Mr. Bunting, but instead impose other disciplinary measures. Bunting ended up leaving the company following The Wall Street Journal asking about the incident.
The report from The Wall Street Journal also says Kotick has also been "accused by several women of mistreatment both inside and outside the workplace." The CEO "worked to settle the complaints quickly and quietly." This is according to people familiar wit the incidents.
Bombshell story from the Wall Street Journal this morning that lays out how much CEO Bobby Kotick knew about sexual harassment and misconduct at Activision Blizzard https://t.co/9awZ6NwA7i pic.twitter.com/lRlSpRy4dQ
— Jason Schreier (@jasonschreier) November 16, 2021
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Supposedly he also threatened to have an employee killed and didn't inform the board of misconduct like alleged rapes. This better be the end of Kotick's tenure at Activision at the very least.
I'd rather this put him in prison.
Is it really a "bombshell story" that a rich self-made CEO keeps a lid on dirty inter-personal issues in his company? Is it REALLY?
I mean, yeah, when an employee commits suicide, how many times have we heard that swept under the rug style story?.
Are those types an every-day story?, last I checked they really weren't a common thing, or we'd be hearing about that every week/month and death rates would be soaring if that were the case.
I get what you're saying.
Though, a suicide during a company trip has got to occur every now and then.
It's a perosnal tragedy, and rarely broadcasted. If it allegedly was do to a work relation, would YOU as a boss hurry out to tell the media about it?
The allegations here are not of a criminal nature in the first place. When we don't hear about more cases of this kind, it's likely out of respect for the involved parties, AS WELL as a wish not to spread negative media interest.
I honestly haven't heard it as being a common every-day type of thing though, not in the way she suffered.
Of course bosses wouldn't hurry to tell others, but still, info like that leaks regardless, and it's why I don't see that kind of case as one being common like someone falling down the stairs and breaking their neck, or falling off a cliff while rock climbing.
Naturally I don't have any numbers on this sort of thing, so you may be well be right to assume that it isn 't a common occurance.
It is worth noting however, that in this case,Kotick wasn't aware of the suicide at Blizzard. The news piece concerns shielding an employee at Treyarch, appointing him "disciplinary meassures" instead of having him fired over a (in this article) non-specified instance of sexual harrassment.
There ain't no way in hell this dude should keep his job.
He does not own a majority stake:
https://money.cnn.com/quote/shareholders/shareholders.html?symb=ATVI&subView=institutional
id sure like to see the complaints and actions taken here, Minus names.
I swear to god if he doesn't get fired, there is something utterly wrong with this world.
Knowing full well that shit was getting bad and letting an employee off themselves is just downright shit.
Who would guess.
BIG SURPRISE! Of course he knew about it. This sleazeball should go to jail.
Boy if this guy keeps his job now it would be the most shocking thing ever. Crazier things have happened though.
Oooooooooh shiiiiiiit!!!!!
He deserves more than just being fired, he deserves prison time.
