Activision Blizzard shareholders have received an open letter from the SOC Investment Group. Released on the SOC website, the letter asks shareholders to not re-elect six of Activision Blizzard’s board members. The list of board members includes CEO Bobby Kotick.
Other names on the list are Brian Kelly, Robert Morgado, Robert Corti, Barry Meyer, and Peter Nolan. The letter urges shareholders against re-electing these six named board members because of their inactivity when it became clear that the company was harbouring a hostile workplace.
“Each of these directors failed either to recognise that Activision Blizzard for years maintained unsafe workplaces exhibiting frequent and repeated sexual harassment, sexual assault, and gender discrimination, or to appropriately address the Company’s ‘frat house’ culture once it was publicly revealed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) in its pending lawsuit, which was filed in July 2021,” says the letter.
The letter was released ahead of Activision Blizzard’s annual meeting, which is scheduled for June 21.
The company is also facing legal action from New York City Employees’ Retirement System and pension fund for the city’s teachers, police, and firefighters. The lawsuit comes in the midst of Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
In a recent interview, Microsoft president Brad Smith stated that the acquisition has been moving at fast enough speed for its size.