Today (May 25), a group of current and former Activision Blizzard employees formed an anti discrimination committee to combat gender discrimination within the company. According to the Washington Post, the 12 member team also put forward a series of requirements to CEO Bobby Kotick, diversity director Kristen Hines and chief human resources officer Julie Hodges.
Among these requirements, the organization requires the establishment of a cross gender network of employees to support its cross gender employees. Other requirements include 12 weeks of paid parental leave, breastfeeding privacy and an independent investigation into allegations of discrimination.
The group also called on Activision Blizzard to abandon compulsory arbitration in case of suspected discrimination, which the company said it would do last year.
"At the end of the day, I want to go to work and don't want anything except my job," Emily knief, senior dynamic graphics designer and committee member of Blizzard, told the Washington Post
"But based on what has happened, even before it made the headlines, it has occupied a considerable part of my day, and I have to consider the inaction of the leadership."
In response to the request letter, Activision Blizzard provided a statement to the Washington Post.
"We thank these employees for working with us to build a better Activision Blizzard and continue the progress we have made," Activision Blizzard spokesman Jessica Taylor told the publication
"To name just a few, we have upgraded our lactation facilities, abandoned arbitration, hired new Dei and EEO leaders, and worked with employees to make our policies and processes more gender inclusive."
After Activision Blizzard recently released the ESG (environmental, social and Governance) report for 2021, the requirements of the anti discrimination Committee followed.
The report details the company's efforts in many areas, including its efforts in diversification and inclusiveness.