Riot Games is to pay compensation to all female employees who worked at the company from 2014.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Riot Games has set aside a $10 million fund to settle a class action lawsuit filed against the company over alleged gender discrimination.
If approved by the Los Angeles County Superior Court, all 1,000 or so female employees who worked at Riot from November 2014 until the settlement date, will be paid compensation by the company for a “bro culture” that encouraged inappropriate behaviour and harassment.
A men-first bro culture
The lawsuit, which was filed in November 2018, alleged that male employees at Riot openly displayed lewd behaviour, including “crotch-grabbing, phantom humping, and sending unsolicited and unwelcome pictures of male genitalia.”
One specific example of inappropriate behaviour was an alleged email chain discussing “what it would be like to ‘penetrate’ female employees.” Another highly inappropriate email list, ranking female employees by attractiveness was also apparently distributed by make managers at Riot.
More damning allegations said that those female employees who did speak out were subject to retaliatory actions.
Riot’s response: diversity officer, better systems, pay reviews and more
Cecilia D’Anastasio of Kotaku helped expose what was going on in a series of investigative pieces, prompting Riot to hire Angela Roseboro as the company’s first chief diversity officer. Since then a raft of measures are said to have been implemented to make the company’s culture more inclusive and address issues highlighted in the lawsuit.
The settlement filing highlights several commitments Riot has made towards this end, including improving internal sexual harassment and discrimination reporting systems, reviewing all pay, promotion and hiring practices, and creating employee groups to monitor the changes.
AYO.NEWS says:
We’re glad to see Riot have been proactive in responding to this issue, and hope the previous toxic culture has been consigned to the dustbin of history, where it clearly belongs.
It’s worth noting that Riot Games is home to some seriously heavy hitting female business talent. Just two weeks ago, AYO.NEWS reported that Riot Games’ Naz Aletaha had been named one of 2019’s Young Influentials by Adweek (read more).
AYO.NEWS says features the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Pentagon Digital Limited.
