Dennis Durkin, former Activision Blizzard chief financial officer, resigned from the board of Smartsheet, the Bellevue, Wash.-based collaboration and work management technology company, citing unspecified personal reasons, less than a month after he was named to the role.
The abrupt resignation, disclosed Monday in a regulatory filing, follows an internal uproar among Smartsheet employees after Durkin’s appointment to the board on Aug. 2.
The backlash focused in part on his past role as a top Activision-Blizzard executive. Durkin was chief financial officer at the video-game giant as it faced allegations from the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) of fostering a “frat boy” environment and culture of sexual harassment and discrimination against female employees.
Update: Activision-Blizzard has denied the allegations in the DFEH lawsuit. “There has also been no court finding, verdict, or ruling concluding the DFEH allegations are true,” said Mark Herr, a spokesperson for the company.
Activision-Blizzard, which earlier this year agreed to a $68.7 billion acquisition offer from Microsoft, reached a settlement for $18 million in September 2021 in a consent decree with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
A separate civil securities suit, which names Durkin among the defendants, alleges that Activision-Blizzard failed to properly disclose allegations of harassment against the company to investors.
In internal forums and calls, Smartsheet employees including members of the company Women’s Employee Resource Group expressed deep concern and frustration over Durkin’s appointment, and the company’s priorities for creating a safe and equitable working environment, according to people who took part.
Part of the frustration came from the fact that Durkin and Smartsheet CEO Mark Mader both attended Dartmouth College and played on the football team, leading to assumptions that cronyism played a role.
However, a person familiar with the situation said today that while Mader and Durkin were aware of each other from their time in college, they have never been personal friends, and hadn’t had any connection since college until a search committee brought Durkin forward as a candidate for the Smartsheet board.
Smartsheet released this statement on Durkin’s resignation.
We can confirm Dennis Durkin’s resignation from our board. We respect his decision and wish him well.
Our board conducted a robust recruitment and vetting process for the skills and experience we needed to add to our board. In listening to our employees, it’s clear we can improve this process. We are actively working to address these gaps, keeping our employees updated throughout.
We are grateful and proud that Smartsheet is a place where employees care deeply about our culture and feel comfortable expressing their opinions with leadership. Smartsheet is and will continue to be a place where employee safety and wellbeing are foundational, where raising concerns and suggestions is welcomed and encouraged, and where we work to enable and enact meaningful change.
The company’s SEC filing said, in part, “Mr. Durkin’s resignation is not due to any disagreement with the Company or the Board on any matters relating to the Company’s operations, policies, or practices.”
Durkin worked for more than 12 years at Microsoft, including a role as CFO/COO of the Xbox business. He was at Activision-Blizzard for more than nine years, leaving in May 2021. Microsoft announced its agreement to acquire Activision-Blizzard in January, contingent upon regulatory approval, which is still pending.
