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Read the Discrimination Memo Activision Workers Sent to Management
Samson Amore
Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
In the wake of a historic, successful unionization drive at Activision Blizzard subsidiary Raven Software, Activision employees in Los Angeles are now ramping up pressure on the video game developer—sending a lengthy memo to management on Tuesday laying out demands on workplace issues ranging from the company’s handling of sexual harassment cases to trans workers’ rights.
The four-page letter, obtained by dot.LA, was sent by members of ABetterABK, a coalition of Activision Blizzard workers that began mobilizing last year amid the high-profile workplace misconduct controversies that have arisen at the Santa Monica-based company. ABetterABK sent the memo one day after employees at Activision’s Wisconsin-based Raven Software studio voted in favor of certifying their Game Workers Alliance union—the first labor union at a major video game publisher in the U.S.
Following that labor victory, ABetterABK, which is not a union, has now taken the initiative and laid out a series of demands to Activision via a newly formed Worker Committee Against Sex & Gender Discrimination. Those demands include ending the practice of mandatory arbitration for discrimination and sexual harassment cases at Activision—which would let accusers take their alleged abusers, as well as the company itself, to court—and requiring that an outside, independent third-party investigate all such claims.
The memo also requests 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all new parents, during which they would receive 100% of their normal compensation and cannot lose their position. It also notes Activision’s “history of discrimination towards employees who lactate,” and calls for workplace practices and facilities that protect and support breastfeeding parents, such as private feeding rooms and breastmilk storage equipment.
There is also a section addressing Activision’s treatment of transgender employees. The memo demands support for trans workers “pre, during and post-transition,” as well as the creation of a “trans network” supporting trans employees at Activision and an “advisory committee of support for [human resources], recruiting and employees at large” regarding trans issues in the workplace.
ABetterABK is also demanding that Activision institute stricter enforcement of its anti-harassment policy for gamers and content creators, who would be subject to bans for violating the policy.
“We believe it is imperative that workers have a voice in Activision Blizzard’s anti-discrimination policies—without that, the company’s culture of harassment and abuse will continue to go unchecked,” ABetterABK member Emily Knief, who works as a senior motion graphic designer at Activision, said in a statement. “We hope to have a productive conversation with leadership where they acknowledge these growing concerns and enact the demands brought forth by the committee.”
Sources told dot.LA that ABetterABK sent its letter Tuesday to Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, chief people officer Julie Hodges and chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer Kristen Hines, who recently joined the company in April.
“We appreciate that these employees want to join with us to further build a better Activision Blizzard and continue the progress we have already made,” an Activision spokesperson said in a statement Tuesday. “We have, for example, already upgraded our lactation facilities, waived arbitration, hired new DEI and EEO leaders, and collaborated with employees to make our policies and processes more Trans inclusive, just to name a few issues the letter raises. We thank these employees, and will continue to work with all of our employees on our journey to be a better Company.”
Heightened tensions between management and employees at Activision come as the game developer looks to finalize its $69 billion sale to Microsoft. While the Seattle tech giant has said that it won’t stand in the way of union efforts at Activision, the gaming company refused to voluntarily recognize the Raven Software union, which set the table for Monday’s vote.
“We respect and believe in the right of all employees to decide whether or not to support or vote for a union,” Activision spokesperson Talia Ron told dot.LA on Monday, in the wake of the Game Workers Alliance’s successful union certification vote. “We believe that an important decision that will impact the entire Raven Software studio of roughly 350 people should not be made by 19 Raven employees.”
Labor organizers working with the Raven employees told dot.LA earlier this year that they hope to expand unionization efforts across the entire company—though there’s no clear indication yet that organizers at ABetterABK or other Activision worker groups are seeking to unionize.
Read the ABetterABK letter to Activision management in its entirety below:
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Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.
https://twitter.com/samsonamore
samsonamore@dot.la
LA Tech Week 2026: Saturday’s Event Lineup
04:43 PM | October 08, 2026
🔦 Spotlight
LA Tech Week 2026 heads into the weekend Saturday with more opportunities to learn, meet fellow builders and explore what is being created across the region. Browse the day’s events by neighborhood below and find the gatherings worth leaving the house for.
ARTS DISTRICT
5:30 PM
- [WARDROBE DEBUG]: See Details Here
Soullink AI
CULVER CITY
10:00 AM
- Live Models TBD: See Details Here
Visko Platform, Reactor
1:00 PM
- Wafer, Print, & the Entertainment Business: See Details Here
Tallaris Partners
4:00 PM
- Build a voice agent in 3 minutes: See Details Here
Guava
- Tech Week Close Out Party: See Details Here
CarClub
DOWNTOWN
11:00 AM
- TradingDayEvent: See Details Here
silwal.io
2:00 PM
- [DFA Designathon]: See Details Here
Design For America + USC
- South Asians in Space, Physical AI: See Details Here
american south asian network
5:00 PM
- Speak Easy: Pitch Lab Happy Hour: See Details Here
Speech & Mind
7:00 PM
- Tea Tech and Tequila: See Details Here
SFWRUNWAY
LONG BEACH
10:00 AM
- Cars & Coffee: See Details Here
Grid, Vacant.com
12:00 PM
- Tech Beach Party @ Long Beach: See Details Here
Tech by the Beach
LOS FELIZ
8:30 AM
- Griffith Observatory Hike with Longevity Cities & Don't Die LA: See Details Here
Longevity Cities
MARINA DEL RAY
9:30 AM
- The Brazen Capital Walk: Connecting Women, Capital & Opportunity: See Details Here
BrazenEra
6:00 PM
- Build an AI workflow editor, natively in Angular: See Details Here
Workflow Builder
SANTA MONICA
7:00 AM
- Founders Running Club Run in Santa Monica: See Details Here
Founders Running Club, MongoDb
9:00 AM
- MOLTEN - Spatial hackathon (ElevenLabs, AssemblyAI, Rokoko, Datafeel...): See Details Here
Field Lab
2:00 PM
- Founder/Investor Fight Club: See Details Here
Santa Monica Striking
- Matcha & Walk with Longevity L.A.: See Details Here
Longevity Cities
3:30 PM
- The Afterparty for Your Nervous System: See Details Here
Infinity Angels 777
6:00 PM
- The Era of Agentic Networking: See Details Here
Purpose:Labs
7:00 PM
- Hackathon: See Details Here
Builderbase, AI Collective
USC
9:00 AM
- ACM@USC TrojanHacks: See Details Here
ACM@USC
10:00 AM
- 0 to Shipped: See Details Here
LavaLab
10:30 AM
- [CreatorThon]: See Details Here
Intuition Intelligence, Inc.
VENICE
8:00 AM
- Open Air Health Tech: See Details Here
Open Air Health Tech, Bowshock, Govitamins App
10:00 AM
- Be You Louder: Find, Build, Tell Your Story: See Details Here
Be You Louder
10:30 AM
- touch ./SAND - The Voice Agent OUTDOOR Hackathon: See Details Here
Openbase
11:00 AM
- Community Build: Tech 4 Good Hackathon: See Details Here
The Sameritan Project
12:00 PM
- Lovable Hackathon Competition: See Details Here
Lucky Day Labs
6:00 PM
- Bots, Bytes & Bubbles Benefit: See Details Here
Distinguished Minds Institute dba thinqueBytes®
VIRTUAL
9:00 AM
- Ask a VP of Sales: Live GTM Office Hours for Early-Stage B2B Founders: See Details Here
Kat Rucker Consulting Group
11:00 AM
- Sip & Ship: The Un-Hackathon: See Details Here
Your Next Win
WEST HOLLYWOOD
11:00 AM
- The 10x Engineer Showed Up. The 10x Organization Didn't.: See Details Here
Workflow Builder, Tentaro
3:00 PM
- AI, FILM & THE NEW ECONOMICS of CREATIVITY: See Details Here
DIMSUMX
WESTSIDE
11:00 AM
- AI After 5: Pilates & AI: See Details Here
AI After 5
- 🍵 Global Dream Café: See Details Here
Global Dream Team Media LLC
2:00 PM
- Graphic Design & Digital Printing Meetup: See Details Here
Big Frog Custom T-Shirts & More of West LA
7:00 PM
- Tech Industry Speed Networking West LA: See Details Here
Los Angeles Fun Events
Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.
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LA Tech Week 2026: Sunday’s Event Lineup
05:00 PM | October 08, 2026
🔦 Spotlight
LA Tech Week 2026 closes Sunday with one final day of events across Los Angeles. We have organized the remaining lineup by neighborhood so you can finish the week with a few last conversations before everyone returns to their regularly scheduled inboxes.
ARTS DISTRICT
12:00 PM
- ENTERTAINMENT × TECH: NEW RENAISSANCE: See Details Here
SoulByte
CARSON
12:00 PM
- Golf Day Social: See Details Here
Our Wellness Notes, S&R Triangle
- Tech Industry Speed Networking DTLA: See Details Here
Los Angeles Fun Events
CULVER CITY
9:00 AM
- Women in Cleantech & Sustainability Hike and Network: See Details Here
Women in Cleantech & Sustainability
6:00 PM
- Founders pitch competition: See Details Here
Biomorphix solutions, Nightingale regenerative
HOLLYWOOD
10:00 AM
- HEALTH IS WEALTH: See Details Here
Tay Fitness LLC
4:00 PM
- AI International: Film, Music Video & Micro-Drama: See Details Here
AI International Film Festivals
OTHER
12:00 PM
- ORGANIC LIFE LABS™ PRESENTS THE ALIGNMENT LAB: The Science of human performance: See Details Here
The Blue Room Collective
SANTA MONICA
8:00 AM
- Pedal & Network: Tech Cyclists🚵: See Details Here
Instafill.ai
1:00 PM
- Infoports soft launch party: See Details Here
Infoports
6:00 PM
- Meaningful Connections Experiment: See Details Here
Purpose:Labs
SOUTH LA
2:00 PM
- Future Builders : Family STEM Day: See Details Here
Black L.A. Tech Week (Community Collective)
VENICE
10:00 AM
- JFE Coffee & Schmooze - Edition: See Details Here
JFE Network Org
- LA Creatives Buildathon: See Details Here
Hackathon Company
12:00 PM
- How to Raise Funds to Fund Any Business Using Digital Products.: See Details Here
DN Events
Each session provides unique opportunities to gain insights, network, and explore various fields of tech innovation. For updates or more event information, visit the official Tech Week calendar.
Read more Show less
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