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[Azelover]

But he's a Fallen Angel

ok

 

[nush]

The two of them were appointed as co-heads of Blizzard after shit went down the first time. Of course she should have been paid the same as the other, male co-head by a company who is literally trying their hardest to make some progressive moves in a desperate attempt to remedy their shitty culture.

Do you think there was absolutely no salary and bonus negotiation? That's how it works, they don't just give you a role like that and tell you they are only going to pay you X amount to do it.

 

[jakinov]

But he's an Angel

He hasn't fallen!

 

[NickFire]

You realise many working class people don't have the luxury of just leaving their kids without food on the table at a moment's notice, right? They may not have the buffer to go a month without their job. At the same time, they likely have friends who were personally impacted by these disgusting acts and want to prevent it happening to anyone else. It's not attention seeking ffs. They don't want to just ignore it and pass the buck.

That sounds like the type of excuse the twitter crowd will use when it suits them, and reject when it inconveniences them. No thank you.

 

[Ogbert]

Bros before hoes.

Excelsior.

 

[VenomousCoffee]

lol I swear i laugh every time I see employees walk out. It's become so common now they do it on a random Tuesday.

Go back to fucking work. Stop trying to get your bosses fired. Be happy you have a job during a pandemic when so many lost theirs.

An entire generation of drama queens.

Expecting your employer to investigate or act on rape allegations isn't being a drama queen.

 

[chonga]

Hang on, scratch the surface of this and it seems, well...

I can't see the WSJ piece but looking at the Windows Central piece and what you get is:



So I had a quick look to see who Jen Oneal is and I got this article .

So, the male co-workers she she claims to be paid less than appear to be a total of 1 co-worker: Mike Ybarra, like the head of Blizzard and formerly CTO of Blizzard.

Not to dismiss all her claims, but its kinda funny to me that this oppressed, marginalized individual wasn't some mid-level staffer, but at the absolute top of the management hierarachy!

Doubly so when you consider she had made it to a position where she would be able to actually affect some change.

Leaving because you're earning less than an industry veteran is not the way to go. Seems to be another person who thinks equal pay means literal equal pay regardless of experience, remit and expertise.

 

[6502]

Why don't they quit if they believe these allegations? I can't imagine staying at a company if I thought it actually condoned what you say was covered up. Anything less begs the question of are they sincere in their beliefs or looking for attention in my humble opinion.

So what you are saying is if you were witness to a crime you would emigrate without complaint? After all if you truly didn't like what happened then the hassle, risk and pain should be entirely on you and the criminal should carry on unaffected? To do otherwise is attention seeking??

There are such things as minimum standards of behaviour (which these managers get paid handsomely to enforce).

Some people here are showing their love of a videogame outweighs their morals or ability to empathise with humans. It is beyond autistic.

 

[FunkMiller]

Of course its serious, but whats up with the walking out all the time? Just do your job and if the guy did something illegal then hes gonna get fired or arrested or whatever. You stick to doing your job and focus on shipping games without bugs every year.

This whole WE DEMAND JUSTICE mentality is ridiculous. You are an employee of that firm. Do your fucking job. Imagine if everyone in the U.S federal govt started walking out because Trump and Biden were both accused of sexual harassment. No TSA. No police. No miltary. No teachers. When everyone starts walking out then nothing gets done.

I’d rather they got together and went through any and all evidence they might have of Kotick’s / senior management misconduct, and handed it over to investigators. This will actually accomplish something.

 

[Imtjnotu]

Fire his bitch ass. Period. He can't be allowed to stay on and run the company if any of that is true.

THIS PART

 

[AdjudicatorHead]

Some of the responses here are embarrassing. Just disgusting.

 

[FunkMiller]

I don't know why anyone would be surprised the board is fine with this. Kotick is a shit human being but dude brought Activision up from bankruptcy to being the most profitable video game company in the world. He gets the board paid something fierce. If firing hundreds of employees after MAKING billions didn't bother them, nothing will.

Kotick is business, that's it. Gives no shit about employees, costumers or anything. He's there to make money and the board is all for that.

He could rape a chick on the boardroom table and they’d defend him, thanks to how much he makes for them. Let’s not kid ourselves of anything different.

 

[NickFire]

So what you are saying is if you were witness to a crime you would emigrate without complaint? After all if you truly didn't like what happened then the hassle, risk and pain should be entirely on you and the criminal should carry on unaffected? To do otherwise is attention seeking??

There are such things as minimum standards of behaviour (which these managers get paid handsomely to enforce).

Some people here are showing their love of a videogame outweighs their morals or ability to empathise with humans. It is beyond autistic.

Where in your word salad do you explain how I am "beyond autistic" for having enough moral fiber that I would not work for a company if I thought it was covering up the rapes of my co-workers?

 

[Kiddo Cabbusses]

That sounds like the type of excuse the twitter crowd will use when it suits them, and reject when it inconveniences them. No thank you.

As if the Twitter crowd ever care for the working class.

But on a serious note; if you want to corporate shill, I do not think rape coverup allegations are the hill you want to die on.

 

[Holammer]

So true... These employees need to realise their bodies belong to the company. Whether that means working without safety gear to save the boss a buck or the odd bit of rapery for office girls.

Sack any fucker who walks out on principle.

Disloyal swines!


... this shit attitude is why everyone needs to join a trade union.

Sweden and the other Nordic countries have famously strong trade unions. This protects the employer.

 

[SlimySnake]

Expecting your employer to investigate or act on rape allegations isn't being a drama queen.

Expecting is one thing. Walking out and stopping work is another.

He is being sued by the government of California. SEC is investigating him. What is walking out accomplishing here?

If the guy is guilty, he is gonna get fired or arrested. Plain and simple. All this nonsense about employees staging walkouts is for the cameras.

Why didnt they stage walkouts before this happened? How comes none of this shit about Activision come out before the State of California filed a lawsuit against Activision? None of these people went to Schrier who made a career out of reporting abuse. None of them went to the mainstream press when the whole MeToo movement exploded a few years ago. Werent they themselves complicit? Should I stage a walkout on neogaf because these guys didnt speak up when it mattered?

Again, walking out is the issue I have with this. If Kotick is guilty, by all means throw him in jail and lock away the key. You can go back and view the thread I made when this story first broke. I have no sympathy for these execs. What I dont care for is this nonsense walking outs. Go back to work. And do your job.

 

[tkscz]

He could rape a chick on the boardroom table and they’d defend him, thanks to how much he makes for them. Let’s not kid ourselves of anything different.

I mean, lets think about this. When they fired those 800 employees, they made (in net not profit) $7.5 Billion. They could have easily gave each of those 800 employees $100,000 and barely felt the loss. There is nothing Kotick could do that would make the board give him up outside of him fucking with their bottom line.

Whats worse, Activision could easily fire everyone who walked out. Not like they give a shit about those people or their well being. While it's perfectly legal for them to perform a walk-out, because they aren't a union, it's perfectly legal for Activision to fire them. And with how desperate people are to get into the industry, they could easily replace them. I feel bad for those employees. While I believe they are doing the right thing, against something that big, I can't see them succeeding in changing anything.

 

[6502]

Where in your word salad do you explain how I am "beyond autistic" for having enough moral fiber that I would not work for a company if I thought it was covering up the rapes of my co-workers?

You are saying workers should not exercise their right to withdraw their labour in response to their bosses putting colleagues at risk.

Rape and harassment is not in the job description. It is against the law as the majority of people find such things reprehensible. They are morally right to oppose it. This is not virtue signalling, it is basic human decency.

You question their morals because they are not voluntarily increasing the pain of opposing these acts for the victims and their colleagues (who will already be losing pay during walkouts) by proposing they should permanently give up their income (and impact ability to feed families and make their mortgages) which is frankly as fucking stupid as it is disgusting. You are not being morally superior, you are going full retard.

I hope you are a teenager with no responsibility for others or life experience as you would at least have the chance to grow up.

 

[Fare thee well]

I mean, this doesn't even shock me. I bet the guy diddled kids on Epstein island too. He sure looks like it. Either that or his distant ancestors were Skaven.

 

[Ailike]

Expecting is one thing. Walking out and stopping work is another.

He is being sued by the government of California. SEC is investigating him. What is walking out accomplishing here?

If the guy is guilty, he is gonna get fired or arrested. Plain and simple. All this nonsense about employees staging walkouts is for the cameras.

Why didnt they stage walkouts before this happened? How comes none of this shit about Activision come out before the State of California filed a lawsuit against Activision? None of these people went to Schrier who made a career out of reporting abuse. None of them went to the mainstream press when the whole MeToo movement exploded a few years ago. Werent they themselves complicit? Should I stage a walkout on neogaf because these guys didnt speak up when it mattered?

Again, walking out is the issue I have with this. If Kotick is guilty, by all means throw him in jail and lock away the key. You can go back and view the thread I made when this story first broke. I have no sympathy for these execs. What I dont care for is this nonsense walking outs. Go back to work. And do your job.

Hey guys, if you could stop trying to get taken advantage of so this guy can play his Cawlodooties, that'd be great. Back to work now, because after all, why bother?

 

[NickFire]

You are saying workers should not exercise their right to withdraw their labour in response to their bosses putting colleagues at risk.

Rape and harassment is not in the job description. It is against the law as the majority of people find such things reprehensible. They are morally right to oppose it. This is not virtue signalling, it is basic human decency.

You question their morals because they are not voluntarily increasing the pain of opposing these acts for the victims and their colleagues (who will already be losing pay during walkouts) by proposing they should permanently give up their income (and impact ability to feed families and make their mortgages) which is frankly as fucking stupid as it is disgusting. You are not being morally superior, you are going full retard.

I hope you are a teenager with no responsibility for others or life experience as you would at least have the chance to grow up.

I am stupid and disgusting because I don't see a moral high ground by protesting while still taking money from a company that allegedly covers up rapes???????????????

 

[6502]

Sweden and the other Nordic countries have famously strong trade unions. This protects the employer.

Depends entirely how you exercise that strength. It can be a genuine benefit to companies to have unions (improved safety, collective bargaining), but the union mission is to protect employees above management or "the company".

Do they do a bad job or is there corruption / a lack of democracy to challenge such in Nordic unions? Are these unions widespread or mostly in the public sector? (Genuine interest).

 

[Barlow]

 

[godhandiscen]

Mwahahahashshahhaha

Holy shit MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

 

[6502]

I am stupid and disgusting because I don't see a moral high ground by protesting while still taking money from a company that allegedly covers up rapes???????????????

It is stupid to expect that worker A leaving to be replaced by worker B will do anything but encourage the behaviour.

It is disgusting that you are attacking people who are doing the right thing by pretending there is a higher moral standard which involves workers and their families suffering more whilst the boss carries on making bank.

 

[Clear]

The two of them were appointed as co-heads of Blizzard after shit went down the first time. Of course she should have been paid the same as the other, male co-head by a company who is literally trying their hardest to make some progressive moves in a desperate attempt to remedy their shitty culture.

I beg to differ. There's more to it than a title.

People get paid differently for doing the same job in business ALL THE TIME, and not because of sexism. A lot of it boils down to how hard you're willing to negotiate and what sort of track-record (both experience and remuneration-wise) you bring to the table to backup that negotiation.

I'm sorry, this reeks of an opportunistic powerplay. This woman supposedly climbed the ranks from the position of associate producer (which typically is one step above tester) to the joint leader of the company. Which (1) dents the argument of a glass ceiling in itself, and (2) if conditions were so horrible why didn't she flag it before now?

 

[Bitmap Frogs]

It'll go nowhere.

The guy prints money for stockholders.

 

[yurinka]

If these cases are real I'd suggest these people to report them on the court (in fact to the one investigating this case, feels weird that if these issues existed aren't mentioned there), instead of in a newspaper or in Twitter.

 

[NickFire]

You are stupid to expect that worker A leaving to be replaced by worker B will do anything but encourage the behaviour.

It is disgusting that you are attacking people who are doing the right thing by pretending there is a higher moral standard which involves workers and their families suffering more whilst the boss carries on making bank.

Enough with the hyperbole. I shared a benign opinion that you disagree with. That is not attacking people.

Second, enjoy the rest of your day.

 

[ManaByte]

 

[Holammer]

Depends entirely how you exercise that strength. It can be a genuine benefit to companies to have unions (improved safety, collective bargaining), but the union mission is to protect employees above management or "the company".

Do they do a bad job or is there corruption / a lack of democracy to challenge such in Nordic unions? Are these unions widespread or mostly in the public sector? (Genuine interest).

They do a good job protecting members and they are widespread, I'm a member myself and everyone I know are (60-70%). Toys 'R Us landed in some real hot water when they applied their non-negotiation policy in Sweden back in 1995. It's a classic and a fun read.

What Canada Can Learn From Sweden's Unionized Retail Workers

What Canada Can Learn From Sweden's Unionized Retail Workers

www.huffpost.com

But talk smack about your company?
I heard of a case where a person wrote inappropriate stuff on Facebook about the company. Got a box with private belongings the next day. Contacted the Union, their response?

 

[SlimySnake]

I'm sorry, this reeks of an opportunistic powerplay. This woman supposedly climbed the ranks from the position of associate producer (which typically is one step above tester) to the joint leader of the company. Which (1) dents the argument of a glass ceiling in itself, and (2) if conditions were so horrible why didn't she flag it before now?

Yep. Also, not all execs are paid the same. Not all managers are paid the same. Same goes for engineers and programmers. A senior software engineer with 20 years of experience is going to make a helluva lot more than a dude who just got the promotion a few months ago. Even if you look at salaries in glassdoors, the salaries have a curve. the Median is typically those who have been at that position for several years.

So this lady gets a huge promotion. Becomes an exec. Then quits a few months later and complains she wasnt getting paid the same as the execs who have been there for years?

 

[Bragr]

We don't have any clue what really happened here. Unless we read that e-mail and know the people involved, we don't know. We also don't know what he did to remedy it.

This sounds ugly, but some of you people in here are acting like he did more than he did. If it's as serious as it sounds, this needs to go through court, I assume cases are lined up.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I beg to differ. There's more to it than a title.

People get paid differently for doing the same job in business ALL THE TIME, and not because of sexism. A lot of it boils down to how hard you're willing to negotiate and what sort of track-record (both experience and remuneration-wise) you bring to the table to backup that negotiation.

I'm sorry, this reeks of an opportunistic powerplay. This woman supposedly climbed the ranks from the position of associate producer (which typically is one step above tester) to the joint leader of the company. Which (1) dents the argument of a glass ceiling in itself, and (2) if conditions were so horrible why didn't she flag it before now?

Exactly.

People who expect the same salary for the same job come from a handful of places:

1. They come from a unionized background where there's rigid tiers of wages based on job and years of service. You can be a total asshole who sucks at his job smoking in the bathroom all day, but as long as you stick around you somehow get paid more than someone else strictly due to being there longer. Or get paid the same if youre coworker is same job and seniority

2. They work in non-unionized low end jobs where tons of people make the same low hourly wage

3. They are unemployed and have no clue how payrolls and salary negotiations work

If myself and my similar job coworkers all compare salaries, we'd all make different amounts. Even if the company hired all of us at the same time for the same job and had a company policy to pay new employees the same salary, we'd all be different years later anyway because part of salary and bonus payouts is due to performance evaluations. If youre a star employee, you creep up an extra few %. If you are decent, you get the 2-3% standard inflation rate increase. If you suck, you get 0% increase and on HR probation.

People who work in jobs with rigid wages (hourly wagers where pay is publicly posted for all to know) have a different view on compensation. Their view is as long as you do the same job, you get paid the exact same amount. So years of service, negotiations, coming from outside companies, performance pay adjustments etc.... are all zero effect.

When I got offered a job at my current place years back, I told them I want an extra $5k. I ripped myself off because the recruiter I went through called me saying they agreed like an hour later! I should had said $10k or $15k.

People in shitty jobs dont get this part of pay negotiations because they suck, and are never in a position to bargain for an extra $10k here or there. So they have no clue.

And most people dont even have regular performance evaluation meetings. I;ve had them in office jobs since I got out of school. All us office slobs have to do them. Set goals with the boss and a couple times a year sit with the boss and go over progress. And all logged into an HR system. Then the boss AND peers evaluate you too end of year. Over time completing more tasks and getting more experience your knowledge and skills naturally go up as you do more different shit. It's just part of the job to see how you're progressing in your tasks and career. And the better you do, the higher pay bumps you get. I bet tons of people dont even do performance meetings because all they do is drone on all year with some redundant tasks the boss tells you to do. Or it's part of the union contract to not even have them protecting bad workers from getting grilled.

 

[Adam_802]

Yes we know, kotaku's written like 5 articles about it just today lol

 

[ByWatterson]

They're standing by him for now, which tells me the overall Vanguard launch went pretty well.

All that matters to shareholders is money. Unless this creates new and disastrous liability, it won't matter.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

They're standing by him for now, which tells me the overall Vanguard launch went pretty well.

All that matters to shareholders is money. Unless this creates new and disastrous liability, it won't matter.

The amazing thing is Kotick makes around $200M/yr with most in stock options.

If he gets the boot, his golden parachute will be so high the Kotick haters better pre-call an ambulance the second they click the article detailing his pay out package.

So by the time they are done reading the article, the paramedics are already pulling up on their driveway.

 

[Valt7786]

I don't care what he knew or not. But the fact that employees walk out and protest is fucking baffling to me.
In Sweden we have doctrine called 'lojalitetsplikt' (lit. "loyalty duty"). What it does is self explanatory; keep company secrets, don't besmirch your employer publicly etc.
I would fire anyone walking out on pure principle, even if I agree with them.

Yeah sorry, being loyal to a company is just stupid. They don't give one shit about you, don't make the mistake of giving a shit about them.

 

[GulfCoastZilla]

This....is fucking insanse


Like we knew that letter was bad when she first wrote it. But to find out he wrote it and later had the nerve to call it tone def

Like get fucked

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Expecting is one thing. Walking out and stopping work is another.

He is being sued by the government of California. SEC is investigating him. What is walking out accomplishing here?

If the guy is guilty, he is gonna get fired or arrested. Plain and simple. All this nonsense about employees staging walkouts is for the cameras.

Why didnt they stage walkouts before this happened? How comes none of this shit about Activision come out before the State of California filed a lawsuit against Activision? None of these people went to Schrier who made a career out of reporting abuse. None of them went to the mainstream press when the whole MeToo movement exploded a few years ago. Werent they themselves complicit? Should I stage a walkout on neogaf because these guys didnt speak up when it mattered?

Again, walking out is the issue I have with this. If Kotick is guilty, by all means throw him in jail and lock away the key. You can go back and view the thread I made when this story first broke. I have no sympathy for these execs. What I dont care for is this nonsense walking outs. Go back to work. And do your job.

It's not like Kotick is going to be convicted and put in prison tomorrow.

So what are they going to do? Walk out for 3 years waiting for a trial to start and finish?

As Nickfire said, if these workers think the boss and corporate culture sucks so much, go find another job. By the sounds of it, its seems like its not a big secret so they've had years to find another job. I'm sure there's 1000s of squeaky clean offices they can work in.

But they dont because as money grubbing people claim Kotick to be, they are just as "I'm in it for the money too" and would rather collect some pay stubs than put this ultimate ethics of galactic wisdom to the test by working for a more ethical boss in another company.

It's like the outspoken anti-meat, anti-slaughterhouse person we all know lecturing the masses. Yet you see them one day and somehow they're wearing a leather coat or shoes.

Over 10 years ago, our office saw the CEO or some high up exec for The Body Shop talk on stage. She was all about ethics and shit. She must had gotten asked this question a million times so she probably proactively joked about it before anyone put up their hand asking.

She openly admitted to wearing leather even giggling about it, even though she's anti meat and an animal supporter. Talk about weird.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

What' even funnier about Activision employees making a big deal about allegations of Kotick is that he's the president. And unless he's the chummiest open door policy exec ever, the vast majority of the 9500 employees at Activision wont even see or talk to him.

Yet they make a big deal about an ivory tower guy.

I guess that means all their immediate bosses and supervisors must be Mother Teresas if they never walk out on them for being dickish.

 

[RavageX]

I personally think there has to be solid proof with things like this. Far too many accusations fly around ruining careers WITHOUT PROOF.

If there is proof, then grab the pitchforks.

 

[Rat Rage]

Oh, look, turns out a CEO of a huge company is a complete asshole and a bad human being.

You usually don't become a CEO of a huge company just by being a good guy. Money and positions of power attract socio - and psychopaths with little or no moral integrity like shit attracts flies.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Prediction: Bobby won’t get fired and nobody is gonna boycott Call of Duty. More people will leave the company and be instantly replaced.

 

[KingGhidorah]

Fire every single one of them!!!

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Oh, look, turns out a CEO of a huge company is a complete asshole and a bad human being.

You usually don't become a CEO of a huge company just by being a good guy. Money and positions of power attract socio - and psychopaths with little or no moral integrity like shit attracts flies.

I wonder how many of the walk outs do the same boycotting any companies selling shoes, jewelry, clothes, and food because the corporation use 75 cent/hour teenage labour in Cambodia. Or even at a higher end level, Apple and PC gear made at Foxconn where workers drone on forever making low pay and the company even had to install suicide nets below their balconies.

Oh wait!

As long as social do-gooder can criticize Issue A like they are ethical gods , while benefiting from Issue B turning a blind eye it's a-ok!

 

[Valedix]

Jesus christ fuck Activision

Buy crash and spyro please sony

 

[Kaleinc]

Go back to work. And do your job.

No. I prefer: you go to work and do my job.

 

[proandrad]

We don't have any clue what really happened here. Unless we read that e-mail and know the people involved, we don't know. We also don't know what he did to remedy it.

This sounds ugly, but some of you people in here are acting like he did more than he did. If it's as serious as it sounds, this needs to go through court, I assume cases are lined up.

I would say where there is smoke there is fire, but the place is already on fire. Absolute best case scenario is that all high level executives linked to this should be fired over incompetence. Would be crazy that they are so bad at managing, that the state of California would sue them over "just allegations."

 

[BattleScar]

Expecting is one thing. Walking out and stopping work is another.

He is being sued by the government of California. SEC is investigating him. What is walking out accomplishing here?

If the guy is guilty, he is gonna get fired or arrested. Plain and simple. All this nonsense about employees staging walkouts is for the cameras.

Why didnt they stage walkouts before this happened? How comes none of this shit about Activision come out before the State of California filed a lawsuit against Activision? None of these people went to Schrier who made a career out of reporting abuse. None of them went to the mainstream press when the whole MeToo movement exploded a few years ago. Werent they themselves complicit? Should I stage a walkout on neogaf because these guys didnt speak up when it mattered?

Again, walking out is the issue I have with this. If Kotick is guilty, by all means throw him in jail and lock away the key. You can go back and view the thread I made when this story first broke. I have no sympathy for these execs. What I dont care for is this nonsense walking outs. Go back to work. And do your job.

Because its the most effective vote of no confidence.

Board don't want to rid Kotick cause he makes money. If the workers don't work, company doesn't make money, so board is pressured to get rid of Kotick.
If they go back to work and act like nothing happen the Board won't do shit. Its the one thing that gives workers power over their employer.