Riot will pay $10M to settle gender discrimination lawsuit
The settlement, announced in August, still has to be finalized by the court.
In August, League of Legends studio Riot Games announced an agreement to settle a class action lawsuit filed against it in 2018 over pervasive sexism and gender-based discrimination at the studio. The studio said at the time that its internal investigation found that "gender discrimination (in pay or promotion), sexual harassment, and retaliation are not systemic issues at Riot," but acknowledged that "some Rioters have had experiences that did not live up to our values or culture."
The Los Angeles Times reported today that the settlement will cost Riot at least $10 million, which will be divided between approximately 1,000 women employed by the studio between November 2014 and the finalization of the settlement, which still needs to be settled by the court. Individual payouts will vary depending on the length of the employment period, as well as whether the workers were full-time employees, or on contract.
The settlement also commits Riot to continuing to improve its internal culture through better channels for reporting harassment and discrimination, a review of all pay, promotion, and hiring practices, and creating employee groups to track the company's progress. Riot hired its first-ever chief diversity officer, Angela Roseboro, in March 2019.
"We’re pleased to have a proposed settlement to fully resolve the class action lawsuit," a Riot rep said. "The settlement is another important step forward, and demonstrates our commitment to living up to our values and to making Riot an inclusive environment for the industry’s best talent."
Analyst firm Superdata estimated that League of Legends pulled in $1.4 billion in 2018.
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Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.