League of Legends developer Riot Games has agreed to pay at least $10 million to former women employees as settlement in a lawsuit regarding gender discrimination, the Los Angeles Times reported today. The settlement has been agreed upon by the plaintiffs and defendant, but it still needs to be approved by the court.
The lawsuit began when two women, one of which still worked at Riot, filed a class-action suit in November 2018, alleging women at Riot are “denied equal pay” and have their “careers stifled because they are women.”
Riot revealed in August that the two sides had agreed to a settlement, but the billion-dollar company did not divulge the amount. Court documents filed today indicate that the approximately 1,000 self-identified women involved in the suit will receive a portion of the settlement amount, with tenured and full-time employees receiving more than others.
When it announced the settlement in August, Riot said it believed it had a “strong position to litigate,” but that “it was the strongest statement we could make… that we’re prepared to go over and above in order to move forward.”
In May, Riot employees staged a company-wide walkout after the company forced one of the lawsuits into neutral arbitration. Riot said it supported the walkout, but that it would maintain its policies regarding active lawsuits.
