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Riot Games announced today that it has received final court approval for the 2018 gender discrimination settlement. The games publisher originally announced the $100 million settlement in 2021, pending the final approval. The publisher pays more than 1,500 women who worked at the company between 2014 and 2021.
Under the terms of the settlement, Riot will pay $80 million to all current and former full-time employees and temporary workers who worked with Riot between November 2014 and the time of the settlement. This equates to 1,548 women who will receive part of the settlement. The remaining $20 million will go to attorney fees and other expenses.
Gaude Paez, Riot’s SVP of corporate affairs, said in a statement: “Today, the court declared that it grants final approval to Riot’s global class action settlement, ending our litigation with the class action plaintiffs, the California Civil Rights Department, and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement This has been a long road for all involved and we are grateful to rioters for their patience and support throughout this process.”
The sequel to the lawsuit
Since the original lawsuit, Riot has committed to having its pay equity and internal reporting processes audited by a third party for three years. Riot and California’s Civil Rights Department (formerly the Department of Fair Employment and Housing) will appoint the third party.
Paez added: “We know that trust cannot be taken for granted – it is earned – and it is up to us to earn that trust every day through the experiences we create for rioters and for players. We’ve worked hard over the past few years to create a culture at Riot where inclusiveness is the norm and embracing diversity fuels creativity, and we’re committed to ensuring it continues to do so going forward.”
Since the settlement was first announced, Riot has stepped up its efforts to improve women’s representation in the company. According to his Annual Impact Report 2022women make up 27.5% of the workforce and 25.9% of leadership.
However, it is not clear how much senior employees accused of sexism and harassment were dismissed as a result of the lawsuit. Recently, Nicolo Laurent – who was involved in the lawsuit – stepped down as CEO of Riot Games.
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