Riot Games Ordered To Pay $100 Million To Employees In Gender Discrimination Lawsuit

thegamer.com:

Women who currently work or have previously worked at Riot Games are set to receive a settlement of $100 million, as part of the long-running gender discrimination lawsuit brought against the company. This comes as the court greenlights a deal proposed in December, stating that Riot must compensate the women involved with the case and pay their legal fees.

Riot Games had previously proposed a settlement of just $10 million, but this final agreement will see the developer pay more than that on legal costs alone. $80 million will be given to the women of Riot in compensation, and $20 million will go towards court fees.

Related: Report: How Women Navigate Crunch, Abuse, And Lack Of Opportunities In The Gaming Industry

This ruling marks the end of Riot's legal battles, which began in 2018 when the gender discrimination case was brought against the studio. The case came after reports spoke of a company-wide "bro culture", in which women were passed up for promotion and belittled in the workplace.

As part of the settlement, women who worked at Riot Games between November 2014 and December 2021 will be entitled to compensation. Riot has also agreed to be overseen by an independent third party for the next three years, ensuring that gender discrimination no longer takes place in the workplace.

However, it's possible that this is already the case. Just before the settlement was revealed, Riot employees began speaking out once again over gender-based double standards at the company.

Multiple female employees say they were reprimanded for posting pictures of themselves in bikinis to their personal social media pages, and were ordered to take them down. Riot is yet to respond to these fresh allegations of gender discrimination,