Activision-Blizzard employees have made fresh claims of more disturbing details that they say went on behind closed doors at the gaming publisher, including instances of breast milk being stolen.
Blizzard has found itself in the midst of lawsuits, scandals, and demands for CEO Bobby Kotick to step down over a series of accusations about workplace practices.
Most recently, a female employee has claimed that she was demoted for reporting sexual harassment, leading to Twitch star Pokimane encouraging streamers to stop playing Blizzard games during their broadcasts.
Now, employees who were breastfeeding have claimed their needs were ‘neglected’, and alleging that they had to put up with unsanitary conditions.
https://twitter.com/BlizzJess/status/1468712965398405123
Blizzard accused of abusing breastfeeding parents
A series of tweets by Activision-Blizzard activist Jessica Gonzalez along with two other current and former employees revealed the severity of the issues mothers allegedly faced.
In screenshots from a Slack channel, it was alleged that chairs in a breastfeeding room rocked backwards and had wood tables with caked up milk. Additionally, with only two outlets, it was said to be fire hazard.
It is also claimed that refrigerators needed to be padlocked because other employees would use them to keep beer in and even steal breast milk.
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Someone had either taken my bags and tossed them, or stolen them for some creepy reason.
This was devastating, not just for the creep factor but because I was already very low on supply and had a baby who wouldn’t latch. I was already supplementing and struggling to get milk.
— Stephanie Krutsick (@skrutsick) December 9, 2021
Employees allege breastmilk theft
“There was no fridge in the room, so I had to label and carry my breastmilk out and store it in the breakroom fridge. It was very clearly breastmilk, in baggies with a baby’s face on it,” Former Blizzard producer Stephanie Krutsick corroborated the claims. “One day, I went to retrieve my pumped supply at the end of the day and it was gone.”
“Someone had either taken my bags and tossed them, or stolen them for some creepy reason,” she added, noting how they never found out who did it.
https://twitter.com/Rhyvver/status/1468821694601072646
Current employee Stephanie Lyon Peters had stated that the tables were only removed on December 8 despite concerns going on for years.
As allegations continue to be made about the state of working at Activision-Blizzard, past and present, come to light, increased scrutiny is placed on what the publisher’s response will be.
