Activision Blizzard senior tech analyst, Jessica Gonzalez, who Axios describes as “instrumental in employees’ collective action efforts” for better working conditions at Activision Blizzard announced her resignation from the company on Twitter.
Gonzalez says the reason she is leaving the company is that she is “mentally wounded” from the fight against Activision Blizzard management. Many Activision employees have credited Gonzalez as a driving force behind the fight and effort for equal pay, zero tolerance towards sexual harassment, and organizing protests against Activision Blizzard management.
“It’s been a journey over the years, and I have made the decision to leave Blizzard by putting my wellbeing first,” Gonzales wrote in an open letter.
“I regret that I couldn’t meet my colleagues under better circumstances, but I take our shared vision for diversity, equity, inclusion, and workers’ rights with me and value the work that we’ve done during my time here. There’s a lot of work to do still… it’s been a long and exhausting road for change, but it isn’t over.”
She adds her last day is on December 10th and that she has accepted a new job for a “senior quality engineering role for a financial tech company, and out of game development entirely.” As her final statement, she addresses Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick, following The Wall Street Journal’s report that the CEO ignored internal sexual harassment reports for years.
“Your inaction and refusal to take accountability is driving out great talent and the products will suffer until you are removed from your position as CEO. This may seem harsh, but you had years to fix the culture and look at where the company currently stands,” Gonzales said in an open letter.
Senior engineer Valentine Powell told Axios, who worked with Gonzalez over her time, says the company is “losing a pillar of culture” and that she “has been a constant voice for her whole time at ABK, pushing to see life get better for marginalized groups in all of our companies.”
For the last half of the year, Activision Blizzard has been under fire after a lawsuit was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing which publicly revealed the “frat boy workplace culture”, sexual harassment and abuse against female and minority employees.
