A new actor has jumped onto the scene of the scandal surrounding Activision Blizzard. The New York City has urged the company to issue an annual report on the status of cases of harassment and discrimination among the workforce, a text that the company wants not to be published. Now, the representatives of one of the most important cities in the world have gone a step further.
And it is that as reported from Axios, New York has decided to sue Activision Blizzard. The demand It was presented on April 26 by the Employee Retirement System and the pension funds for teachers, police officers and firefighters. It is not the first time that the state bureaucracy warns Bobby Kotick about his delicate situation and in this case the New York agency owns shares in the company.
What are the reasons that lead New York to make this decision? The truth is that there are several. First, it is alleged that the actions of Activision Blizzard’s management clearly harmed the value of the company. The sale agreement with Microsoft was closed with a payment of 95 dollars per share and from New York it is indicated that this was a value close to what the company had at that time. Therefore, this is an understatement of Activision Blizzard’s cost.
Second, New York requires the conglomerate to provide documents related to the agreement with Microsoft, as well as those linked to five potential buyers that Activision Blizzard had. Third, New York points directly to Bobby Kotick for his potential irresponsibility in cases of harassment and discrimination in the workforce.
“It should have been made clear to the board that [Bobby Kotick] was not in a position to negotiate the sale of the company”, collects the lawsuit. And it is that for New York, Kotick accelerated the sale process to Microsoft in order to evade their responsibilities in all the controversy. In fact, the New York body reports that Kotick and his fellow board members, through the transaction, have achieved “a means to escape responsibility for their flagrant breaches of fiduciary duty.”
Although the initial lawsuit from the DFEH tarnished the image of Activision Blizzard, it was not until the information from TWSJ came to light that the top leader was tarnished. 37 employees have been fired so far for their acts of misconduct, while everything indicates that in 2023, after the purchase of Activision Blizzard, Bobby Kotick will leave the company with a good settlement.