Riot Games Settles Gender Discrimination Lawsuit With $100 Million Payout

According to an analysis by The Washington Post, Riot Games is settling a long-running gender-based discrimination class-action lawsuit to the tune of $100 million. The $80m will be paid to class members, and the rest $20 million for legal fees. 

According to The Washington PostShannon Liao reports that all current or former employees of California and contractors working at Riot Games from November 2014 to present are eligible for a payout. With the number of eligible participants counting upwards of 2,300 women, those who have a longer tenure with the company or were employed by Riot earlier are subject to receiving a larger claim of the payout.

This settlement results from a lawsuit brought against Riot Games in 2018 by former employees arguing the League of Legends developer’s work culture is deeply misogynistic. This includes discriminating against women in the workplace and refusing to hire women the company didn’t consider “core gamers.” The suit was initially to be settled in 2019, for one-tenth. This is what we reported about at the time. California’s Department of Fair Housing and Employment denied that amount and reached an agreement on the payment today.

Riot has made other improvements to the workplace culture. They have improved throughlines for temporary workers and contractors so they can become full-time employees. There is also better transparency about pay for new potential hires. 

You can read the entire story about what sparked this suit here Kotaku‘s exposé on the matter from 2018.