Responding to the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, former exec Mike Morhaime, and current president J. Allen Brack issue public and private statements.
In response to the lawsuit against Activision Blizzard brought by the state of California, former president Mike Morhaime and current president J. Allen Brack have issued public and company-focused statements regarding the allegations brought forth in the suit. Earlier this week, it was reported that a two-year investigation by the state of California has brought about a lawsuit aimed at Activision Blizzard. The investigation brought to light multiple accounts of sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, unfair pay, and inappropriate behavior and comments directed at female employees within the company. Now, one former high-level executive at Blizzard, and one current executive, have addressed the allegations made against the developer, one publicly and one privately, by calling the outlined behavior out as unacceptable. Current Blizzard president J. Allen Brack stated in a leaked email obtained by Forbes that he detests “bro-culture,” and that the allegations made by current and former employees are “extremely troubling.” Brack states in the email that it is “unacceptable” for anyone in the company to face discrimination or harassment and that everyone should feel safe working with the company whether it is in-office or while at an event such as BlizzCon. He goes on to say that it “takes courage to come forward,” and that any and all allegations made are investigated internally and when needed, externally. “We take these claims very seriously,” he states. “Claims can be made without fear of retaliation, and many times I attend to them personally along with our other leaders.” As noted by Massively OP, Brack is one of the parties listed in California’s suit against Activision Blizzard, for not taking “effective remedial measures” when it came to claims made by female employees. It’s stated in the documents that Alex Afrasiabi, former senior creative director of WoW and also named in the lawsuit, was accused by staffers of multiple harassment infractions. According to the suit ( page 15), Brack apparently verbally counseled Afrasiabi multiple times, and despite a “slap on the wrist,” Afrasiabi allegedly continued to make derogatory remarks, sexually harass, and grope female employees. Meanwhile, co-founder and former president of Blizzard Entertainment Mike Morhaime has spoken out against the behavior depicted in the lawsuit. In an open letter, Morhaime said was he was sorry if he failed any female employees, and that he feels he let them down. Here’s his statement in full: “I have read the full complaint against Activision Blizzard and many of the other stories.
