Activision Blizzard shareholders approve annual report on harassment

gamedeveloper.com:

Activision Blizzard shareholders have approved a proposal made by the New York State Comptroller that would require the company to issue an annual report on how the company is preventing sexual harassment and discrimination in the workplace. The vote is non-binding.

New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli issued the proposal in February. Said report would include the total number of pending sexual abuse, discrimination, and harassment complaints the company is working to resolve, how much money Activision Blizzard has spent resolving said claims, and the number of misconduct complaints facing the company.

Activision Blizzard's board was not in favor of the proposal. Shareholders ignored their disapproval and overwhelmingly voted to approve the proposal in today's meeting. A similar set of circumstances occurred at a Microsoft shareholder's meeting last year, when shareholders went against the board's wishes to mandate a similar report from the parent company of Xbox (which is currently acquiring Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion).

At today's board meeting, shareholders also voted on ten members of Activision Blizzard's Board of Directors. CEO Bobby Kotick and longtime board members Brian Kelly and Robert Morgado were successfully re-elected as part of that vote.

Shareholders did not approve the nomination of an employee representative to the board of directors, which was proposed by organizing employees at Activision Blizzard and the AFL-CIO.

This vote follows almost a year of public turmoil at the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher that began with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filing a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, accusing it of perpetrating a culture of sexual harassment,