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NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
Activision Blizzard Forms Workplace Responsibility Committee Out of its Own Board Members
Activision Blizzard creates the Workplace Responsibility Committee, seating two independent directors from its own board as members.
gamerant.com
The goal of this new Committee is to ensure initiatives to eliminate harassment and discrimination in the workplace, and to improve the culture of Activision Blizzrad by creating “a healthy workplace in which all employees feel falued, safe, and respected.” The Workplace Responsibility Committee will be working closely with the ABK Board of Directors, the Audit Committee, and the incoming Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator and Consultant, as agreed upon in the settlement with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in late September.
The Committee currently has only two members. Dawn Ostroff, Chief Content Officer of Spotify, will be chairing the Committee, and non-profit and education administrator Reveta Bowers will serve on it. However, both women are currently independent directors on Activision Blizzard’s board. The company is currently working on adding “a new, diverse director to the Board,” as well.
The choice of assignments to the Workplace Responsibility Committee has most people rolling their eyes. As both current members are also on the board of directors, there is an obvious conflict of interest. Though Ostroff and Bowers are independent directors, they are still beholden to the board and Kotick. By supporting the CEO and any other members of the board who seek to protect him despite outcry of Activision constituents against Kotick, the Committee will have already failed in its purpose.
However, there is still a chance, slim as it is, the board could still help in theory.
