US Senators call out 'unacceptable' lack of accountability for Bobby Kotick in Microsoft buyout
pcgamer.comUS Senators Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Cory Booker, and Sheldon Whitehouse have sent a letter to FTC chairwoman Lina Khan asking that she investigate whether Microsoft's planned acquisition of Activision Blizzard could worsen the workplace conditions at the company. The letter, reported by the Wall Street Journal, also calls out CEO Bobby Kotick's continued role at the company and «golden parachute,» saying that failing to hold him accountable for the workplace culture he allowed to flourish «would be an unacceptable result» of the acquisition.
«Workers at Activision Blizzard, following years of rampant sexual misconduct and discrimination and unfair labor practices, have led calls for greater transparency and accountability in the gaming industry, and we are deeply concerned that this acquisition could further disenfranchise these workers and prevent their voices from being heard,» the letter states.
«As this proposed deal moves forward in the review process, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) should assess whether the ways in which these companies have failed to protect the rights and dignity of their workers are driven by monopsony power or amount to anticompetitive harms in our labor market, and if so, if the merger will exacerbate these problems.»
The letter makes a specific reference to the reported "frat boy" culture at Activision Blizzard, and its recently-finalized $18 million settlement with California's EEOC arising from complaints of sexual harassment and discrimination at the company. It also notes that Activision Blizzard is facing a US Securities and Exchange investigation into its handling of workplace misconduct complaints, and that despite his claims to the contrary, Kotick was in fact aware of
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