In early December, Riot Games proposed a settlement for the class action lawsuit started by two female employees on the grounds of gender discrimination and sexual harassment; you might remember that back in May 2019 there was even a walkout at the Los Angeles office, where roughly a hundred female employees staged a protest.
The proposed settlement included a fund of $10 million to be paid to every female employee at Riot Games since 2014 (around a thousand in total).
However, a document issued by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing earlier this month argues that the injured parties (in this case, female employees at Riot Games) could be entitled to over $400 million in potential back pay alone, based on the wage differential between men and women. This was reported a few days ago by the Los Angeles Times, which also included a rebuttal statement from Riot Games spokesperson Joe Hixson.
We worked hard to negotiate with the lawyer representing the class to reach an agreement that we collectively believe is fair for the class members. Now DFEH is trying to disrupt that agreement in a legal filing that is filled with inaccuracies and false allegations.
We are particularly dismayed that the filing downplays and ignores the efforts we have made with respect to diversity, inclusion, and culture over the past 18 months. We look forward to making our case to the Court.
The court is expected to decide whether to allow the DFEH's objections on February 3rd; if not, the $10 million settlement will be approved.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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