The head of Blizzard’s human resources department is now the second executive to leave the company after the recently filed discrimination lawsuit. Bloomberg reports that Jesse Meschuk, the company’s head of global human resources, is no longer with the company. This departure comes shortly after Blizzard president J. Allen Brack also made the decision to leave the company.
An Activision Blizzard spokesperson confirmed to GameSpot that “Jesse Meschuk is no longer with the company,” but gave no further comment. No official word has been given in regards to these departures having anything to do with actions taken by Activision Blizzard.
It also seems that Meschuk deleted his Twitter account, although it’s unclear when this happened. Meschuk was not directly named in the lawsuit like Brack was; however, the lawsuit clearly implies that Blizzard’s HR department was complicit with the harassment in the office.
The lawsuit, which was filed by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing in July, alleged that victims were “discouraged from complaining as human resource personnel were known to be close to alleged harassers.” An Axios report says a dozen current and former Activision Blizzard employees stated that not only did the company’s HR department not help victims, it discounted and dismissed them. One of the people quoted for the Axios report said H would regularly respond to reports of harassment with statements like, “This isn’t a fight you want.”
In Bobby Kotick’s letter responding to the allegations, he made it clear that they would “immediately” evaluate managers and leaders across the two companies. “Anyone found to have impeded the integrity of our processes for evaluating claims and imposing appropriate consequences will be terminated.”
A shareholder also filed a lawsuit against Activision Blizzard, claiming the company made false and misleading” statements about the ongoing investigation. Amid the initial release of the scandal, Activision Blizzard employees staged a walkout, demanding change from the company.