Former Activision Blizzard co-leader Jennifer Oneal was only offered an equal contract to her colleague Mike Ybarra after she resigned from her position, IGN has reported.
In a Slack message directed to Activision Blizzard employees, Ybarra said: “Jen and I shared with management that we wanted to be paid the same to co-lead Blizzard together.”
Ybarra explained the situation further in additional comments: “Jen and I were both on existing contracts. I ran [Battle.net & Online Products] and she ran [Vicarious Visions] so our pay was different. The first time both Jen and I were offered a new contract, it was the same across both of us for the new co-leader of Blizzard roles, so our compensation was going to be the same.”
However, Oneal stated that she and Ybarra received previous compensation—which was unequal—prior to starting their new roles. This “remained that way for some time” despite the pair making “multiple rejected requests to change it to parity.”
“While the company informed me before I tendered my resignation that they were working on a new proposal, we were made equivalent offers only after I tendered that resignation,” Oneal continued.
The comments follow a recent Wall Street Journal report that stated that Oneal sent an email to a member of Activision Blizzard’s legal team one month after she began her role as co-leader. She stated that she had been “tokenized, marginalized, and discriminated against” during her career at Activision Blizzard. She also said that she was paid less than Ybarra, and wished to discuss resignation.
Oneal joined the company in January as executive vice president of development and replaced previous leader J. Allen Brack in August. She resigned from her position in November and will remain an employee at Activision Blizzard until the end of the year.
Words by Ellen Leslie
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.