Activision Blizzard Paying $35 Million to Resolve SEC Investigation
Activision Blizzard has settled an investigation without admitting or denying SEC allegations.
Photo:
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
WASHINGTON—
Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI -0.66%
agreed to pay $35 million to settle regulatory claims tied to its process for deciding whether its disclosures to investors should reflect any employee complaints about workplace misconduct.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation also alleged that Activision violated a whistleblower-protection rule. The company settled the probe without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.
The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that female employees at Activision complained for years about alleged sexual assaults and mistreatment. The SEC’s probe examined what Activision’s management knew about the alleged incidents and how it addressed them internally, the Journal reported.
In 2021, Activision agreed to pay $18 million to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to settle allegations of gender-based harassment and retaliation. A California judge approved the settlement in March. The agency had been investigating the company since 2018.
California’s Civil Rights Department sued Activision in mid-2021, alleging the videogame company ignored numerous employee complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation. At the time, the agency was called the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment.
Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has denied the state’s charges, and it made several failed attempts to get that case dismissed. It sued the department last month over claims that it improperly slow-walked or withheld information about its contacts with the media and labor unions regarding the case.
(Updates to follow as news develops.)
Write to Dave Michaels at [email protected] and Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
Activision Blizzard has settled an investigation without admitting or denying SEC allegations.
Photo:
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
WASHINGTON—
Activision Blizzard Inc.
ATVI -0.66%
agreed to pay $35 million to settle regulatory claims tied to its process for deciding whether its disclosures to investors should reflect any employee complaints about workplace misconduct.
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation also alleged that Activision violated a whistleblower-protection rule. The company settled the probe without admitting or denying the SEC’s allegations.
The Wall Street Journal has previously reported that female employees at Activision complained for years about alleged sexual assaults and mistreatment. The SEC’s probe examined what Activision’s management knew about the alleged incidents and how it addressed them internally, the Journal reported.
In 2021, Activision agreed to pay $18 million to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to settle allegations of gender-based harassment and retaliation. A California judge approved the settlement in March. The agency had been investigating the company since 2018.
California’s Civil Rights Department sued Activision in mid-2021, alleging the videogame company ignored numerous employee complaints of sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation. At the time, the agency was called the California Department of Fair Housing and Employment.
Activision, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has denied the state’s charges, and it made several failed attempts to get that case dismissed. It sued the department last month over claims that it improperly slow-walked or withheld information about its contacts with the media and labor unions regarding the case.
(Updates to follow as news develops.)
Write to Dave Michaels at [email protected] and Sarah E. Needleman at [email protected]
Copyright ©2022 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8
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