Riot Games is being sued by one current and one former Riot Games employee following a Kotaku investigation<\/a> into the company\u2019s \u201cmen-first\u201d culture.
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Current employee Melanie McCracken and former employee Jessica Negron filed the class-action lawsuit<\/a> alleging that women at Riot are \u201cdenied equal pay\u201d and have their \u201ccareers stifled because they are women.\u201d The suit also says that the plaintiffs’ working conditions have been \u201cnegatively impacted\u201d due to ongoing sexual harassment and bias, which \u201cpredominate[s] the sexually-hostile working environment of Riot Games.\u201d
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\u201cRioters have told us that the steps we have taken thus far aren\u2019t enough, and we agree,\u201d a Riot spokesperson said in the statement<\/a>. \u201cThe issues we face are serious, and to drive this change, we need to fully understand the root of the issues. This transformation is going to be the source of our future strength as a company. To get there, we need to evolve our culture, while preserving the good things that we think make Riot special.\u201d
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But according to the lawsuit, Riot\u2019s \u201csteps forward\u201d aren\u2019t enough. Several high-profile employees accused in the Kotaku report are reportedly still with the company, but many others \u201cwho were accused of facilitating a toxic culture\u201d have been \u201cpurged,\u201d according to Kotaku<\/a>.
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In September, two former Riot employees were fired<\/a> after they spoke out about a gender-inclusive panel held by Riot at PAX West. Many League<\/em> fans were initially upset and accused the company of \u201cgender discrimination\u201d for creating a space for women and non-binary folks in the industry.
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