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League of Legends and Valorant developer Riot Games has agreed to pay a $100 million USD settlement to end its 2018 gender discrimination lawsuit.
The class action lawsuit was first brought to light in November of 2018. Several employees came forward accusing the studio of fostering a toxic workplace, including gender-based discrimination and fostering a ‘men-first environment.’ While the motion started with a couple of employees following a Kotaku report of more than 20 instances of toxic behaviour, 2000 women would eventually join the suit.
As part of the terms of the settlement (spotted by Eurogamer), Riot will pay $80 million US dollars to members of the lawsuit. This includes “all current and former full-time employees and temporary agency contractors in California who identify as women and worked anytime from November 2014 to present”. Riot will also pay a further $20 million in attorney’s fees and other expenses. In addition, Riot has also agreed to have its internal reporting and pay equity processes monitored for three years by a third party.
Riot offered up a statement along with the announcement of the settlement. “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”.
The company had previously pledged a compensation of $10 million USD back in December of 2019. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing however, disagreed saying plaintiffs could be looking at a sum closer to $400 million USD due to the gender pay gap disparities. Riot responded by calling this claim “wholly unsound.”
