Download PDF
Key Points
- On February 3, 2023, Activision Blizzard settled charges with the SEC, agreeing to pay $35 million to resolve novel claims that the company failed to maintain adequate disclosure controls to track workplace complaints and that it violated whistleblower protection rules by potentially discouraging former employees’ abilities to communicate with regulators. This resolution marks the SEC’s most significant enforcement action involving the “social” considerations of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)-related disclosures.
- The resolution broadens the categories of nonfinancial information that public companies may need to track for disclosure purposes, including workplace misconduct complaints, especially if the company makes any disclosures concerning workforce retention, composition or culture.
- Even the perception that companies could be interfering with employees’ abilities to communicate with regulators could result in SEC scrutiny and civil liability. Given the SEC’s continued focus on whistleblower protections, companies should carefully review their employment and separation agreements to ensure full compliance with the SEC’s whistleblower protection rules.
Background
On February 3, 2023, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or the “Commission”) announced a settled enforcement action involving Activision Blizzard, the maker of popular video games Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush. The company agreed to pay $35...
Read Full Story:
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMi8wFodHRwczovL3d3dy5ha2luZ3VtcC5jb20v...
