Tuesday, December 28, 2021
Discrimination in the workplace
Riot Games pays millions in compensation
It starts with two women: They accuse the computer game developer Riot Games of discrimination and sexual harassment in everyday work. Apparently you are not the only ones. All women who work or have worked there since 2014 file a class action lawsuit – and win.
The US developer Riot Games, known for the computer game “League of Legends”, pays 100 million dollars (around 88 million euros) on allegations of discrimination and harassment of women. Of which $ 80 million is intended as compensation for more than 2,300 current and former employees, as the company and the California authorities announced.
The remaining $ 20 million will be used to pay legal fees for the women. The agreement has yet to be approved by a court.
The allegations against the computer game developer were loud in 2018. First of all, two women denounced discrimination, sexual harassment as well as sexist and insulting statements in everyday work at Riot Games and sued the company.
The computer game developer initially wanted to settle the class action with a payment of ten million dollars. But then the California authorities intervened. They argued the women affected could be entitled to a total of $ 400 million.
Riot Games is “Course Correction”
The $ 100 million settlement now reached provides payments for all women who worked for Riot Games in California from November 2014. The company said that after the allegations became known three years ago, it “corrected its course” and worked on a “better” Riot Games. “While we’re proud of how far we’ve come since 2018, we also have to take responsibility for the past.”
Only at the beginning of the year were allegations of sexual misconduct against Riot Games boss Nicolo Laurent loud. An independent investigation commissioned by the company in March concluded that there was no evidence to support the allegations.
The number of complaints about the way women are treated in the industry has increased in recent years. In the summer, Call of Duty developer Activision Blizzard was shaken by allegations of discrimination and harassment of female employees.