According to the Los Angeles Times,Activision Blizzard has agreed to set up an $18-million fund for employees who experienced sexual harassment or discrimination, pregnancy discrimination or retaliation as part of a settlement with a federal employment agency.
The consent decree, which a federal judge said she intended to sign following a hearing Tuesday, comes in response to a lawsuit filed against the Santa Monica, Calif. video game company in September by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which alleged that Activision employees were subject to “severe” and “pervasive” sexual harassment in the workplace.
Anyone who worked at the company after September 2016 and believes
that they were subject to harassment, discrimination or retaliation will
be eligible to apply for a share of the cash payout. The company
officially denied all wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which also
included requirements for regular audits overseen by the federal agency
over the next three years, changes to workplace policies and
anti-harassment trainings.
To receive money from the $18-million
fund, however, recipients must sign a document that waives their rights
to recover any monetary damages or other relief that may come from the
California lawsuit for sexual harassment, pregnancy discrimination or
related retaliation.
Activision Blizzard’s major franchises
include “Call of Duty,” “Warcraft,” “Overwatch,” “Hearthstone” and
“Candy Crush.” The company reported revenues of $8.8 billion in 2021.
Microsoft announced its plan to buy the company for $68.7 billion in
January.
U.S. Economy Adds 431,000 Jobs in March
The
United States had sizable payroll gains last month, as the economy
added 431,000 jobs in March, according to the Labor Department’s jobs reportreleased on Friday.
The
unemployment rate fell to 3.6% from 3.8% in February and average hourly
earnings were up 0.4% month-over-month and 5.6% year-over-year.
February’s jobs report was also revised upwardly to 750,000 jobs added.
Leisure
and hospitality employers added back 112,000 jobs to build on a jump of
179,000 from February, with more job growth seen in food services and
drinking venues at 61,000, and accommodation at 25,000. Notably, retail
trade employment rose by 49,000 to reach 278,000 above its level in
February 2020. The manufacturing industry saw 38,000 new jobs added or
created during the period.
Despite the positive momentum, concerns around workforce participation still linger.
The New York Times reported
Tuesday that job openings last month remained near record levels, and
the number of workers voluntarily leaving their positions increased.
According to the latest reportfrom
the U.S. Labor Department, there were about 11.3 million job openings
in February, essentially the same as the month before and down a little
from a record in December, though the number of hires overall edged up
by 263,000 last month, to about 6.7 million.
“Many of those jobs
will take years to come back and even if restaurants and bars and
amusement parks wanted to increase staff, they wouldn’t be able to
because of the millions of labor force dropouts from baby boomers
retiring at the age of 65,” FWDBONDS chief economist Christopher Rupkey told Yahoo Finance.
“The economy will run into a wall if it can’t get any more workers, and
economic growth is already slowing down to a crawl this quarter."
There are still roughly 3 million or so people who have not returned to the work force, according to the government data.
“Looking at how poorly our labor force has grown so far this year, if companies want to win the war for talent they need to engage the people who may not be actively seeking work right now, or be the first option people see when they do return,” Ron Hetrick, a senior economist at Emsi Burning Glass, a data and research company, wrote in a note.
Staten Island Workers Vote for Amazon’s First Unionized Warehouse in U.S.
CNBC has reported
that employees at an Amazon warehouse on New York’s Staten Island voted
Friday to join a union, a groundbreaking move for organized labor and a
stinging defeat for the e-commerce giant, which has aggressively fought
unionization efforts at the company.
While the official vote
tally hasn’t been announced, the union’s lead is large enough that
remaining and contested ballots are unlikely to sway the outcome of the
election. The latest tally, according to a union organizer, is 2,350 in
favor of joining and 1,912 opposed.
The Staten Island facility,
known as JFK8, employs roughly 6,000 workers. It’s the first time an
Amazon facility in the U.S. has successfully voted to unionize. The
election result still needs to be formally certified by the National
Labor Relations Board.
By voting in the Amazon Labor Union,
Staten Island workers could challenge Amazon’s current labor model,
which is the backbone of its Prime two-day shipping promise. Unions
stand to disrupt the level of control that Amazon exerts over its
warehouse and delivery employees, like their ability to unilaterally set
the pace of work and hourly wages, labor experts previously told CNBC.
Amazon
still faces another labor battle at its Bessemer, Ala. warehouse. The
NLRB called for a do-over election last November after it determined
Amazon improperly interfered in the first election, which was held last
spring.
Condé Nast Staffers Form Union
More than 350 employees at Condé Nast — the publisher of magazine titles such as Vogue, Vanity Fair and GQ — are requesting the company voluntarily recognize their union, which would organize under the NewsGuild of New York.
According to the Washington Post, “the union would cover more than 500 editorial, production and video workers across 11 publications, including Bon Appétit, Architectural Digest and Allure.” Those leading the effort say nearly 80 percent of eligible workers have indicated support, said the publication.
Those
unionizing say they are looking for salary transparency, more generous
raises and bolstered job security for longtime subcontracted employees.
Another goal is to create a diversity committee to review salary and
hiring data, and guaranteeing that at least half of job candidates come
from underrepresented groups.
Condé spokesman Patrick Maks said the company plans “to have productive and thoughtful conversations with [the unionizing workers] over the coming weeks to learn more.”
Applebee’s Exec Fired for Leaked Email to Lower Restaurant Pay
A
leaked email from a mid-level executive at an Applebee’s franchise
group predicting that inflation and higher gasoline costs would help the
restaurants attract employees for lower wages recently created a stir
on social media, according to reports from the Kansas City Star.
The
email, sent from Wayne Pankratz, executive director of operations for
Applebee’s restaurants, led managers of a Lawrence, Kan. restaurant to
resign in protest, and provoked outrage on Reddit, where it appeared
under the headline, “Applebee’s Executie (sic) claims higher gas prices
make people more desperate so we can pay them less.” The email drew more
than 60,000 comments in the first nine hours after someone posted it on
the subreddit called Antiwork.
American Franchise Capital,
based in Atlanta with offices in Kansas City, owns more than 100
Applebee’s and Taco Bell restaurants in the Midwest.
“Most of our
employee base and potential employee base live paycheck to paycheck,”
Pankratz wrote fellow executives on March 6. “Any increase in gas prices
cuts into their disposable income. As inflation continues to climb and
gas prices continue to go up, that means more hours employees will need
to work to maintain their current level of living.”
He went on
to say that those rising costs, and the fact that people have run out of
government stimulus money and extended unemployment benefits, will work
to the advantage of companies like AFC. Furthermore, he wrote, the
company’s small, mom-and-pop competitors are going to face some tough
choices under the current business conditions and will either have to
raise prices or pay employees less to hit their profit margins.
“Some
businesses will not be able to hold on,” Pankratz wrote. “This is going
to drive more potential employees into the hiring pool.” As that
happens, employees won’t be able to demand the $18 to $20 an hour many
were getting when the demand for workers outstripped supply. “The labor
market is about to turn in our favor,” Pankratz concluded. “What can you
do? Besides hiring employees in at a lower wage to decrease our labor
(when able) make sure you have a pulse on the morale of your employees…”
Earlier this week, Applebee’s corporate confirmed that Pankratz had been terminated over the leaked email.
“This
is the opinion of an individual, not Applebee’s,” said Applebee’s COO
Kevin Carroll in a statement to Restaurant Business. “The individual has
been terminated by the franchisee who owns and operates the restaurants
in this market. Our team members are the lifeblood of our restaurants,
and our franchisees are always looking to reward and incentivize team
members, new and current, to remain within the Applebee’s family.”
