Following a number of lawsuits by female employees claiming gender discrimination and sexual harassment at Riot Games, the company revealed yesterday that it reached a settlement agreement.<\/p>
Riot, known for releasing one of the biggest games in esports, League of Legends<\/em>, announced<\/a> that an agreement to resolve the class action suit has been reached by all parties.<\/p>
Issues at the Los Angeles gaming company were first unearthed by Kotaku<\/a> last year, which exposed a culture of sexism and \u201cbro culture\u201d at Riot. A number of employees came forward, alleging that sexual harassment was rampant and discrimination made promotion for female candidates nearly impossible.<\/p>
Since then, Riot announced a \u201cFirst Steps Forward\u201d<\/a> initiative in which it apologized to current, former, and prospective employees for not being \u201cthe place we promised.\u201d Riot\u2019s \u201cfirst steps\u201d included expanding cultural diversity and inclusion, third-party help to rebuild culture, training, and an improved investigation process.<\/p>
Despite the initiative, Riot employees staged a company-wide walkout<\/a> in May after the company forced one of the lawsuits into neutral arbitration. Riot cleared meeting schedules for its employees and said it wouldn’t take any action against employees participating in the walkout.<\/p>
The Rioters Against Forced Arbitration, a group created to protest the company\u2019s forced arbitration, tweeted<\/a> that the settlement is a \u201chuge victory for women in games.\u201d<\/p>
