Riot Games has announced a $100 million settlement in a discrimination and harassment lawsuit that was brought forth by current and former female employees, according to a Dec. 27 statement released by Riot.
According to Jane Dam, the spokesperson for Riot Games, Riot reached a global settlement agreement with all parties that totals $80 million for the women of Riot as well as $20 million in attorney fees and other expenses. A release by Riot said the women involved are those who were current and former full-time employees and temporary agency contractors in California that worked anytime from November 2014 to present.
The agreement was between California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and several private plaintiffs for the class action lawsuit from 2018 called “McCracken vs. Riot Games.”
“As we said to the company in an internal email, we believe this is the right thing to do, for both the company and those whose experiences at Riot fell short of our standards and values,” Dam said. “We also hope it demonstrates our desire to lead by example in our industry. Over the last three years, we’ve made significant upgrades to our People and D&I practices.”
According to a report by Fast Company, the original lawsuit was filed after Kotaku released an investigation into Riot about sexism. Originally the settlement was going to be for $10 million but the State of California got involved, saying that it could be more than $400 million due to separate investigations of things like unequal pay, gender discrimination and sexual harassment at the company.
Dam said they have also committed to having internal reporting and pay equity processes monitored by a third party that will be jointly approved by Riot and DFEH. The release said that final approval of the settlement is pending in court and there will be a hearing in the coming months.
Riot Games made a statement that said three years ago the company was facing that despite best intentions, it had not lived up to its values. The statement said the company was at a crossroads of whether to deny the actions or apologize and do better, which was the choice the company said it made.
“We’re incredibly grateful to every Rioter who has worked to create a culture where inclusivity is the norm, where we’re deeply committed to fairness and equality, and where embracing diversity fuels creativity and innovation,” the statement by 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.”