Game maker paying USD 100 million to solve gender discrimination case

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 29/12/2021

Esports focused Riot Games announced it has agreed to pay USD 100 million to settle a gender-based discrimination class-action lawsuit with California state agencies and current and former women employees. The Los Angeles-based company is a subsidiary of Chinese Tencent. 

The company said it will pay USD 80 million current and former full-time employees and temporary agency contractors in California who identify as women and worked anytime from November 2014 to present.

“The payment, which will resolve all claims, will be made to a settlement fund and distributed among the class as approved by the Court, pending court approval. An additional USD 20 million in attorneys’ fees and miscellaneous expenses is also contemplated in the agreement.”

The lawsuit was filed in 2018 by two now-former employees accusing the company of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and misconduct.

Riot has also committed to having its internal reporting and pay equity processes monitored by a third party for three years.

“Three years ago, Riot was at the heart of what became a reckoning in our industry. We had to face the fact that despite our best intentions, we hadn’t always lived up to our values”, Riot said.

“While we’re proud of how far we’ve come since 2018, we must also take responsibility for the past. We hope that this settlement properly acknowledges those who had negative experiences at Riot and demonstrates our desire to lead by example in bringing more accountability and equality to the games industry.”