Following months of , Activision Blizzard says it’s going to not make use of pressured arbitration in sexual harassment and discrimination claims. CEO Bobby Kotick introduced the coverage change in a the corporate shared on Thursday. Kotick mentioned the writer can even implement a brand new company-wide zero-tolerance harassment coverage. In the longer term, any worker who’s discovered to have violated the rule shall be fired instantly. Additionally, they’ll forfeit any future compensation, together with fairness awards.

“Our goal is to have the strictest harassment and non-retaliation policies of any employer, and we will continue to examine and tighten our standards to achieve this goal everywhere we do business,” Kotick mentioned.

The govt outlined three different steps Activision Blizzard will take to create a safer and extra numerous office. Over the subsequent 10 years, it’s going to make investments $250 million in applications that create alternatives in tech and gaming for under-represented communities. Additionally, the corporate to plans to rent extra girls and non-binary individuals. According to Kotick, roughly 23 p.c of all workers at Activision Blizzard determine as a part of these teams. Its purpose is to extend that quantity by 50 p.c to greater than one-third throughout the whole firm throughout the subsequent 5 years. Kotick additionally promised the corporate will share annual experiences on progress it makes towards pay fairness.

Separately, the chief mentioned he has requested Activision Blizzard’s board of administrators to cut back his whole compensation to $62,500 per 12 months till it looks like he has met the variety and security objectives outlined above.

Today’s announcement sees Kotick and Activision Blizzard assembly most of the demands workers put earlier than the corporate once they started protesting its actions within the wake of California’s . When workers first staged a walkout in July, they demanded the top of pressured arbitration, better pay transparency and new hiring insurance policies designed to extend illustration throughout the corporate. “This is a great start, and there’s still work to do,” said Jessica Gonzalez, one of many workers concerned with the A Better ABK advocacy group. “We can lead the charge as an industry standard. Victories and still pushing.”