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- Riot Games has reached a settlement with all parties on a gender discrimination lawsuit filed against the company. It still must be finalized and approved by the court.
- The suit was filed in November 2018 following the publication of an article that detailed numerous allegations of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation against women working at the company.
- Riot Games said that the proposed settlement “best demonstrates our commitment to owning our past, and to healing the company.”
League of Legends maker Riot Games has announced that it will cease fighting legal challenges related to allegations of gender discrimination against women at the company, and that it has agreed in principle to settle a class action suit.
Riot Games announced the news via a post on its website yesterday, along with a joint press release issued alongside the plaintiff’s counsel, Rosen Saba, LLP. Terms of the proposed settlement were not disclosed, and Riot noted that the settlement must still be finalized and approved by the court.
“This is a very strong settlement agreement that provides meaningful and fair value to class members for their experiences at Riot Games,” said plaintiffs’ attorney Ryan Saba, in a release. “This is a clear indication that Riot is dedicated to making progress in evolving its culture and employment practices. A number of significant changes to the corporate culture have been made, including increased transparency and industry-leading diversity and inclusion programs. The many Riot employees who spoke up, including the plaintiffs, significantly helped to change the culture at Riot.”
Riot’s post states that the company believes that it does not have systemic problems in relation to gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation against those who speak up about such issues.
“While we believed that we had a strong position to litigate, we realized that in the long run, doing what is best for both Riot and Rioters was our ideal outcome,” reads Riot Games’ post. “Therefore, rather than entrench ourselves and continue to litigate, we chose to pivot and try to take an approach that we believe best demonstrates our commitment to owning our past, and to healing the company so that we can move forward together.”
Numerous accusations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination were levied at Riot Games by current former and employees in an August 2018 article by Kotaku, after which the company announced plans to change its workplace culture. In November, one current and one former employee filed the class action suit at the heart of the announced settlement.
In May of this year, an estimated 100-150 Riot Games employees held a walkout to protest the company’s forced arbitration clause in employment contracts. Riot had filed a motion to stop two lawsuits in April based on the clause. In June, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed suit against Riot Games in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that the company was not cooperating in its investigation of the matters.
