The 2018 California gender discrimination lawsuit against League of Legends developer Riot Games has taken many twisting, frustrating turns. A $10 million settlement rejected by California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing, a federal settlement with Activision that threatened to derail California's Riot Games lawsuit, and more obstacles are just some of what's been involved in the process. The lawsuit may be nearing its end, however, as a $100 million settlement has been granted preliminary approval by California's courts.
As reported by Axios, California courts have approved a settlement that will reward $100 million to women who work at or who have worked at Riot Games between November 14 and December 2021. The settlement is the result of a gender discrimination lawsuit against Riot Games alleging that it denied equal pay and stifled the careers of women employed at the game development studio. While the settlement was first offered in late 2021, it has taken the larger part of 2022 for California courts to grant it approval.
It's unclear what the next step of the process is, though it's noted that women at Riot Games will begin to receive notification of the settlement in August and will have until October to opt out. That perhaps implies that further lawsuits could follow, should certain women feel like the settlement isn't appropriate.
Another aspect of the settlement beyond the $100 million is that Riot has agreed to independent oversight. The oversight will last for three years and will involve evaluation of Riot's human resource complaints, as well as fair pay balance between employees' gender. Note that the oversight body will require approval both from Riot and California's Department of Fair Employment and Housing. Any changes recommended by the oversight body will be enforced by California judge Elihu M. Berle.
Other aspects of the settlement include broader transparency surrounding pay and pay scales for Riot Games applicants, as well as a requirement that a woman or member of an underrepresented community be involved in employee selection panels. Riot Games has, of course, made many other internal changes separate from the conditions of this settlement over the past several years.
The $100 million Riot Games settlement is known to be the largest that California's Department of Labor Standards Enforcement has ever secured. $20 million of the settlement will go toward legal fees, with the remaining $80 million to be distributed to as many as 2,300 workers eligible for compensation. There remains undisclosed arbitration separate from this specific lawsuit, as well as individual lawsuits also tied to gender discrimination at Riot Games.
Source: Axios