Activision Blizzard Charged $35 Million By the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

Activision Blizzard was sued $35 million by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for “failure to maintain disclosure controls related to workplace misconduct complaints and violations of whistleblower protection rules.” rice field.

SEC shared news press release, Activision Blizzard said it agreed to pay $35 million to settle the violations and was indicted for issues dating back to 2016.

Activision Blizzard Lawsuit Timeline: The Story So Far

As a result, Activison Blizzard allegedly violated Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(a) and 21F-17(a). The company did not acknowledge or deny the SEC’s findings, instead “agreeing to a cease and desist order and agreeing to pay a $35 million fine.”

“The SEC’s order states that Activision Blizzard failed to implement the controls necessary to collect and review employee complaints of workplace misconduct, and there are larger issues that need to be disclosed to investors. We discovered that we lacked the means to determine whether or not,” said Director Jason Burt. “Furthermore, taking steps to prevent former employees from communicating directly with Commission staff about possible securities law violations is not only bad corporate governance, it is illegal.”

The SEC has confirmed that it is investigating how Activision Blizzard handled allegations of sexual misconduct and workplace discrimination in September 2021. A “flat boy” culture in which female employees were allegedly subjected to unequal pay and sexual harassment.

The settlement also comes at a time when the $68.7 billion deal to merge Xbox and Activision Blizzard is under special scrutiny. The merger recently resulted in a formal antitrust warning from the European Union.

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Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Adam Bankhurst and Cramp.