The ball is rolling at Activision Blizzard: the case of Dan Bunting is not the first time a senior employee has been accused of sexual misconduct and unacceptable behaviour towards female employees, but it looks like CEO Bobby Kotick himself could be in trouble…

 

 

The latest scandal broke yesterday after the Wall Street Journal published an article about Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick’s affairs. After months of investigation, the WSJ reported that it has collected testimony from several people who accuse Activision Blizzard of fostering a toxic male-centric culture and failing to condemn the inappropriate treatment of women vigorously.

So much so that some of those involved claim they were paid less than men for the same work. And darker things have come to light: “A lawyer for a former Sledgehammer Games employee claimed in an email that a supervisor in 2016 and 2017 raped her client after being pressured to drink heavily at the office and work events,” the article says.

According to the paper, Treyarch’s former co-head Dan Bunting “sexually harassed a female employee in 2017 after a night of sleepovers, according to sources familiar with the incident. Activision’s human resources department and other company superiors launched an internal investigation in 2019 and recommended that Bunting be fired,” the article continues, “but Bobby Kotick stepped in to keep his job,” they add.

According to an Activision source, the company reportedly decided at the time “not to fire Bunting, but to implement other disciplinary measures”. Reacting to the allegations, the developer behind several Call of Duty games declined to comment on the alleged incident.

Dan Bunting has now decided to resign from his position. He previously defended himself behind closed doors by saying that when the incident happened, it was thoroughly investigated by Activision’s human resources team and that he was not found guilty. According to the same WSJ report, the veteran Call of Duty developer, who has worked on the series for 18 years, has also undergone several therapy sessions. After that, it was decided that he could stay with the company.

“After considering the possible actions following the investigation, the company has decided not to terminate Mr Bunting’s contract and will instead implement other disciplinary measures,” an Activision insider is quoted as saying in the same article.

Only now that the WSJ has covered what happened then has Bunting decided to resign. The revelation of the matter may be behind the abrupt departure of the now-former head of Treyarch, who has made no public mention of it.

The noose seems to be tightening around Bobby Kotick’s neck: several company employees have turned against him, and more and more are calling for his dismissal.

The WSJ article also reveals that “Bobby Kotick himself has been accused of the workplace and off-the-job abuse by several women for years, and in some cases, sources close to the cases and other documents say, he has acted quickly and quietly to resolve the situation.” Some have even reported death threats. The company has not yet responded to the news article.

And if all this was not enough, it has emerged that recently the US Securities and Exchange Commission has also decided to launch an investigation into Bobby Kotick over the situation…

Source: The Wall Street Journal