Riot Games sued for sexual discrimination
Riot Games will have to answer in court to its own employees. The participants of the League of Legends project filed a class action lawsuit against the studio, accusing it of sexual discrimination. They complain about the developer’s violation of California labor laws and demand monetary compensation for moral harm caused.
One of the plaintiffs, Jessica Negron, no longer works for the company. She said that the bosses of Riot Games in every way interferes with the career advancement of women. When Negron had to actually replace the boss who quit (and in addition perform her own official duties), they did not raise her salary. And three men were called to the interview for the position of manager instead of her. After the dismissal of the last of them, the duties of the manager again fell on Negron. At the same time, Riot Games paid her half as much as men in the same position. Without waiting for a promotion and a salary increase, Negron decided to quit.
The second plaintiff, Melanie McCracken, has been working at Riot Games since 2013 and claims that her supervisor created a hostile work environment towards women. He doesn’t hire women in leadership positions because he sees them “except as assistants,” says McCracken. She also, like Negron, complained about the salary being too low in comparison with the salaries of male colleagues and the refusal of promotion.
According to the plaintiffs, Riot Games also has a thriving culture of harassment. So, male employees allow themselves sexist statements and even harassment of women.
Representatives of Riot Games told the Kotaku portal that the company takes the allegations seriously. Now she is studying the claims set out in the lawsuit, but refuses to comment on the details of the trial.
In recent months, the developer has already been accused of sexism and discrimination in the workplace. In the summer, Kotaku, as part of its investigation, interviewed 28 former and current Riot Games employees who spoke about the culture of harassment in the studio. While the Kotaku investigation was going on, Riot Games added a tab to its website where it claims that it does not accept discrimination and toxicity in its team.
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