Gender Discrimination Case, Riot Games Agrees to Pay Rp1.4 Trillion
Riot Games, makers of video games behind League of Legends and Valorantagreed to pay USD 100 million (Rp 1.4 trillion) to settle gender discrimination claims with more than 2000 female and former employees.
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2022, was originally planned with a settlement of USD 10 million (Rp 142 million). However, in early 2022, the women who sued Riot Games replaced the lead attorney with Genie Harrison. He explained that the amount was not enough.
Two California employment agencies also took the unusual step of denying the settlement. The reason is because the women who are victims are considered entitled to even more than USD 400 million (Rp 5.7 trillion). This includes claims of sexual harassment, discrimination, unequal pay, and retaliation against women.
Harrison in an interview explained his pride in this settlement that he thought was fair. This will be an ultimatum to all industries in California, including the gaming industry to provide equal pay and a workplace free from discrimination and harassment.
Singed, character in LoL.
Under the terms of the agreement, USD 80 million with an additional USD 20 million in attorney’s fees and others will be shared by more than 1000 full-time employees and 1300 contractors from November 2022. Riot also agreed to fund diversity and inclusion programs. They also approved a three-year third-party gender equality analysis through employee pay and work assignments, as well as workplace investigative audits.
“We believe this is the right thing to do, both for the company and for those who have experience working below our standards and values,” the company said in a statement, as reported by The New York Times. Riot also adds that it has improved its corporate culture over the past three years.
Riot, which is owned by Chinese internet giant Tencent, is one of the most prominent game publishers in the world. From SuperData research, the game research division at Nielsen, its flagship game League of Legends generated nearly USD 2 billion (Rp 28.5 trillion) in revenue in 2022.
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Not only that, this year, Riot Games chief executive, Nicolo Laurent, was sued for sexual harassment claims against his former executive assistant. The case is still in progress. A committee set up by the company’s board of directors later said it found no clear evidence.
“I hope this case will serve as an example to other studios and an inspiration to women in the industry at large. Women in games must not suffer injustice and abuse in silence,” one of the plaintiffs, Jes Negron, said in a statement through his lawyer.
