SOC makes new claims on Activision Blizzard

Activision Blizzard has come under fire from all sides since it has been accused of discrimination and sexual harassment. Now even one of Activision’s biggest donors is involved – and expresses more than one obvious criticism.

SOC Investment Groups Briefing On Activision Blizzard

SOC Investment Group works with several employee unions in the USA and is also a major shareholder of Activision Blizzard. The SoC wants “the company and its management level to be held accountable for irresponsible and unethical behaviour”. So it’s no surprise that the investor is now clearly pitting them against Activision Blizzard.

The investment group also complains about the lack of adjustments to the appointment of new employees, especially in the areas of management and boards of directors. So far, a message has been missed by removing bonuses from the executives involved in the scandal.

According to Weisniger, these actions are in line with Kotick’s promise to create an inclusive working atmosphere.

A thorn in the side of SOC Investment Group is Activision’s selection of controversial company Wilmer Hale as a partner in the internal investigation. Wilmer Hale is known for supporting companies that engage in virtually criminal practices and showing little concern for disadvantaged employees.

Since previous actions by Activision Blizzard did not satisfy the SOC investment group, the SOC investment group has now made a number of proposals that would bring about the needed change:

Increases equality on the board by hiring a woman as a board member through the end of 2021. Ideally, this person should bring experience supporting disadvantaged people and groups to the board. By 2025, half of the board should be made up of women A seat on the board of directors shall always be reserved for a director who is directly elected as a representative by the employees.”

The letter is not only critical of the current board of directors structure for its lack of women. The current situation clearly shows that the board’s lack of practice, especially in technical areas, would have led to the crisis that Activision Blizzard has been in for years. Another point that the investment group criticizes is the issue of bonus payments:

“Restores bonus payments to executives who have been found to have acted abusively toward employees. It eliminates all bonus payments for 2021. It also makes future bonus payments dependent on whether the company has achieved pre-set goals for diversity and equality and whether it has been monitored by an independent third party.” “.

In short, all bonus payments at the management level must be based on the evaluation of an outside company.

“Subjects the company to an equality review, similar to research that Facebook, AirBnB, Starbucks and BlackRock have done or have already promised. However, at Activision Blizzard, this should include all criticisms that Kotick, employees and customers have addressed: including equality between Gender, gender determination, gender and race. Equality and representation must be ensured in game design, in the development process, user forums, and other areas.”

For Activision Blizzard, the crisis is far from over. It is unlikely that Waizenegger and SOC Investment Group will be the last to speak out on the topic of discrimination and sexual harassment at the gaming giant.