Two state agencies in California are intervening in the lawsuit alleging sexual
harassment and gender discrimination at
League of Legends developer Riot
Games. A settlement was reached in the case
last summer and
it was announced
late last
year that Riot would pay out at least $10 million to current and former
female employees. Now, in what the
Los Angeles Times describes as an "unusual step," the state of California is
stepping in, saying they believe this payment is inadequate, and that the proper
payout should be closer to $400 million. Additionally, one of the agencies
objected to the other terms of the deal, saying "no enforceable changes to
employment policies, at a company alleged to be rife with sexism, are part of
the settlement." Riot has filed rebuttals, and there will be hearings on January
31st and February 3rd to work through this.
TheHill has a summary of the pay-walled LA Times article, as well a
statement from Riot Games:
“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. The Settlement Agreement
includes a long list of the dozens of meaningful initiatives and changes we have
made, including updates to our policies, in response to Kotaku’s reporting and
the class action lawsuit. We believe that these initiatives demonstrate a real
commitment to actual change that goes well above and beyond what most companies
would have done in a similar situation.”