Back in 2018, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing filed a class-action lawsuit against Riot Games over mistreatment and discrimination in the work place. The publisher initially tried to settle the lawsuit with a $10 million payout in 2019, but now two years later, a much bigger settlement offer has now been agreed on, which will see Riot paying $100 million to those involved.
Much like this year's DFEH lawsuit against Activision, Riot Games was also accused of promoting a frat house culture and engaging in gender discrimination. Under the settlement agreement, Riot will be paying out $100 million, of which $20 million goes towards attorney fees and the remaining $80 million will be split amongst all women who were employed or worked at Riot on a contract basis between November 2014 and present day.
In all, around 2,300 employees should be eligible for a piece of the settlement, Riot confirmed in a statement to The Washington Post. As part of the settlement agreement, Riot will also have to assign a third-party to help the company reach equal pay and promotion opportunity goals.
Currently, DFEH also has a class action lawsuit in place against Activision Blizzard, which the publisher attempted to settle for around $20 million. Following Riot's massive $100 million settlement, Activision will likely have to offer a lot more.
KitGuru Says: Three years on, the case against Riot has been settled and hopefully, there will continue to be positive changes internally for everyone.