Riot Games to compensate 1,548 women in gender discrimination case
Update: The settlement agreement has been approved, with court filing showing payments could range from $5,000 to over $150,000
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Original Story, May 5, 2023: New details have emerged from the Riot Games gender discrimination case, with a report saying that 1,548 women will receive compensation.
Axios reports a court filing by Rust Consulting, which has been managing the process, confirmed the number of women who were wither staff at Riot or contractors that will be receiving payments.
The payments are part of the $100 million settlement from a 2018 class action lawsuit over allegations of gender discrimination, sexual harassment and a toxic work culture at the League of Legends firm.
The settlement was announced in December 2021, and approved by a California huge in July 2022.
Under terms of the agreement, any of the 1,548 women who worked for the company will receive an initial payment of between $2,500 to $5,000.
Additional payments could extend up to $40,000 depending on the recipient's employment status and tenure.
The filing also shows seven women chose to opt out of the settlement.
Riot Games has since been working on improving its work culture, and releasing annual diversity and inclusion reports to show its progress.
In the 2022 report, published last month, the company reported women accounted for 27.5% of all staff, and 25.9% of its global leadership (up from 24% and 20% respectively in 2020).
Update, May 15, 2023: Axios reports a new court filing shows the current and former workers eligble for payments will receive between $5,000 and $156,056.
Update, May 17, 2022: The court has now approved Riot's settlement agreement. SVP of corporate affairs Gaude Paez shared the following statement:
"Today, the Court stated that it is granting final approval of Riot’s global class action settlement, bringing to a close 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 everyone involved, and we’re grateful to Rioters for their patience and support throughout this process.
"We know that trust is not a given – it’s earned – and it’s up to us to earn that trust each and every day through the experiences we create for Rioters and for players. We’ve worked hard over the past several years to create a culture at Riot where inclusivity is the norm and embracing diversity fuels creativity, and we’re committed to making sure that remains true moving forward."