Tencent’s Riot had initially agreed to pay $10 million to settle the 2018 suit. (File)
Los Angeles:
Riot Games, maker of the massively popular “League of Legends,” announced Monday it had agreed to pay $100 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit.
The lawsuit was originally filed by two now former employees in 2018 who alleged gender discrimination, sexual harassment and misconduct at the US-based company.
Riot is the latest games developer to face a reckoning, with companies grappling with a slew of gender-based discrimination and harassment complaints in recent years.
It will pay $80 million to members of the 2018 class-action suit, including hundreds of current and former California employees, Riot said in a statement, under the agreement reached with state agencies and several private plaintiffs.
Another $20 million will go towards plaintiffs’ legal fees, it added.
The agreement still needs final approval by the court, with a hearing expected in the coming months, said Riot.
In a statement the tech giant said it was “at the heart of what became a reckoning in our industry”, and that they chose to “correct course, and build a better Riot.”
“While we’re proud of how far we’ve come since 2018, we must also take responsibility for the past,” the statement added.
The company will have its internal reporting and pay equity processes monitored by a third party — approved by Riot and California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) — for three years.
Riot initially agreed to pay $10 million to settle the 2018 suit but that settlement was blocked after state regulators the DFEH and the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) intervened, arguing the victims could be entitled to as much as $400 million.
Earlier this year, Riot faced allegations of sexual misconduct against its chief executive Nicolo Laurent and launched an independent review that concluded in March there was no evidence to support the accusations.
The agreement comes as fellow video game giant Activision Blizzard faces employee protests, as well as a California lawsuit, alleging the company enabled toxic workplace conditions and sexual harassment against women.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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