Over 500 Activision Blizzard employees petition to remove CEO Bobby Kotick

Over 500 employees and contractors at Activision Blizzard signed and published a petition to remove CEO Bobby Kotick from the company.

“We, the undersigned, no longer have confidence in the leadership of Bobby Kotick as the CEO of Activision Blizzard. The information that has come to light about his behaviors and practices in the running of our companies runs counter to the culture and integrity we require of our leadership—and directly conflicts with the initiatives started by our peers. We ask that Bobby Kotick remove himself as CEO of Activision Blizzard, and that shareholders be allowed to select the new CEO without the input of Bobby, who we are aware owns a substantial portion of the voting rights of the shareholders.”

In a surprising move, the petition goes on to list the names, titles, and departments of the workers, which could potentially expose the signatories to retaliation.

The petition comes days after a bombshell report alleging Kotick knew about, enabled, and even participated in a culture of misconduct and harassment that has drawn the attention of government authorities. In response, the company’s board of directors issued a statement saying it would continue to support Kotick, even as a small group of shareholders demanded his removal.

This petition is the latest development in a series of worker-led actions against the company, which now includes two walkouts and the formation of an employee advocacy group, A Better ABK.

Disclosure: Casey Wasserman is on the board of directors for Activision Blizzard as well as the board of directors of Vox Media, The Verge’s parent company.