New information has been released regarding the settlement for the Gender Discrimination Lawsuit filed against Riot Games. The lawsuit was settled back in late August but details of the settlement had not been revealed until now. According to IGN, as a part of the settlement, the company will pay at least $10,000,000 and the approximately 1000 employees who identify as female who worked at Riot Games between 2014 and the time of the settlement will receive a portion of that money.
Back in 2018, the company famous for League of Legends came under fire after a class-action lawsuit was filed against the company for allegedly violating the California Equal Pay Act. Kotaku revealed details of their investigative report on Riot Games by interviewing 28 former and current employees including one of the plaintiffs of the case who alleged that Riot Games “inspires and, in some instances, rewards behavior that disadvantages women.” The Los Angeles Times also reported on the settlement and explaining that “The final dollar amount that each employee who self-identifies as female receives will vary depending on how long they worked for Riot, with full employees receiving more than contractors.” This means each female employee will be compensated based on how long they worked at Riot Games.
In an interview with a Riot Spokesperson, they had this to say, “We’re pleased to have a proposed settlement to fully resolve the class action lawsuit. 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.” This implies that the company intends to live up to the values they updated back in January. The settlement also includes a number of terms that Riot has agreed to including increasing internal programs to report sexual harassment and discrimination, reviewing all pay promotions and hiring practices in order to increase fairness, as well as hiring a diversity officer and creating employee organizations to ensure that the company is following through on all of these terms. The plaintiffs and Riot Games have agreed to these terms but the settlement still needs to be approved in court.