Bobby Kotick—Kotick aware of sexual misconduct allegations for years but failed to inform board of directors
A November 2021 Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that CEO Bobby Kotick had been aware of numerous sexual misconduct allegations at Activision Blizzard for years but failed to report many incidents to the board of directors. He reportedly intervened to prevent the firing of Treyarch co-head Dan Bunting after a 2019 internal investigation recommended termination for sexual harassment. Kotick also allegedly knew about a 2020 email from 30 female esports employees reporting unwanted touching and demeaning comments. Over 1,850 employees signed a petition demanding his resignation.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Corporate Transparency | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Worker Rights | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.953 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (critical ×2) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (1 signal)
Wall Street Journal reported Kotick knew of misconduct for years and intervened to protect accused executive
A November 2021 WSJ investigation revealed Kotick had been aware of numerous sexual misconduct allegations for years, failed to inform the board, and intervened to prevent the firing of Treyarch co-head Dan Bunting after a 2019 internal investigation recommended termination. Over 1,850 employees signed a petition demanding Kotick's resignation.