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- Riot settles lawsuit and will pay every female employee since 2014 a portion of a set aside $10M fund.
- The class-action lawsuit was filed las November because of alleged gender discrimination and direct and indirect harrasment.
- Riot has taken steps to remedy the alleged abuses by hiring a chief diversity officer and implementing changes to behavior policy.
The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Riot Games will pay all female employees who have worked for the company starting in 2014 an undisclosed sum that will come from a $10M USD fund put together by the gaming company, if approved by the Los Angeles County Superior Court. The payment comes from the settling of a class action lawsuit filed against Riot over alleged gender discrimination.
Filed last November, the suit sought class-action status alleging that Riot Games perpetuated a “bro culture” where reports of inappropriate behavior and direct and indirect harassment took place towards females in the workplace.
The suit alleged that male employees engaged in “crotch-grabbing, phantom humping,” and other lewd behaviors. The most egregious being an email chain in which employees discussed “what it would be like to ‘penetrate’ female employees,” and a list distributed by male managers of a “hot girl” list which ranked female employee attractiveness.
There were also alleged retaliatory actions taken against female employees who spoke out.
An investigative series of written pieces by Cecilia D’Anastasio of Kotaku shined a light on the alleged abuse taking place inside Riot Games and after these pieces came to light, Riot Games started to make changes.
Riot hired Angela Roseboro as its first ever chief diversity officer who drafted and implemented a series of directives to pull the company back from its alleged male-centric culture.
This story is developing.
