'League of Legends' creator Riot Games faces lawsuit for gender discrimination
The accusations of gender discrimination against Riot Games, creator of League of Legends, has now entered the legal sphere.
A few of months ago, an extensive Kotaku investigation brought a litany of allegations from former and current employees detailing a toxic "bro culture" that fostered systemic sexism at the company. Soon after, even more allegations were reported, this time spanning sexual harassment and misconduct.
On Tuesday, Nov. 6, one former and one current employee officially filed a class action lawsuit for gender discrimination and harassment against Riot on grounds of the company violating the California Equal Pay Act.
The lawsuit cites how female employees "have been denied equal pay and found their careers stifled because they are women," and claims that "their working conditions [have been] negatively impacted because of ongoing sexual harassment, misconduct, and bias" due to Riot's "sexually-hostile" environment.
Interestingly, the complaint traces gender discrimination at Riot back to the company's presumptions about who the "core gamers" are among employees, and describes the alleged sexual misconduct as another product of "gaming culture" perpetuated by Riot.
The demands call for Riot to not only provide monetary compensation for lost wages, but also a change to the company's social culture to prevent the cycle of discrimination and harassment from continuing.
Mashable reached out to Riot for comment on the lawsuit, and a representative stated that, "While we do not discuss the details of ongoing litigation, we can say that we take every allegation of this nature seriously and investigate them thoroughly. We remain committed to a deep and comprehensive evolution of our culture to ensure Riot is a place where all Rioters thrive. We’ve shared our progress here."
Many of the situations described in the 42-page legal document were detailed in the original Kotaku feature, or follow-up reports.
Notable examples of the company's "bro humor" and sexual objectification of women include an ongoing email chain ranking "Riot Games Hottest Women Employees." The publisher reported another instance of a female employee who became aware of an e-mail chain in which a colleague discussed what it would be like to "penetrate her." Worse still, another was told she was on a list of which female employees senior leaders at the company would sleep with.
Perhaps most disturbingly, another claim states that a former male employee remained in a position of leadership after drugging and raping another Riot Games' employee.
Despite continual promises of change from Riot Games, the suit alleges that exposure of this widespread misconduct has been met with, at best, superficial investigations and initiatives. At worst, outspoken employees were silenced through intimidation or job termination.
For more details on the wide-ranging complaints, be sure to read the document in full or catch up on our previous coverage.
Topics Gaming League Of Legends
Jess is an LA-based culture critic who covers intimacy in the digital age, from sex and relationship to weed and all media (tv, games, film, the web). Previously associate editor at Kill Screen, you can also find her words on Vice, The Atlantic, Rolling Stone, Vox, and others. She is a Brazilian-Swiss American immigrant with a love for all things weird and magical.
