Sexism case continues: Does Riot Games have to pay 400 million US dollars?

The sexism lawsuit against League of Legends publisher Riot Games is still pending. Instead of 10 million US dollars, the company could face a payment of 400 million US dollars. In addition, the accusation of illegal agreements is also on the table.

In December 2019, the Los Angeles Times reported on an agreement according to which Riot Games would pay a total of 10 million US dollars to the 1,000 plaintiffs for gender discrimination. Now, however, there is a new development: The US Department of Fair Employment and Housing has intervened and declared that the affected persons would be entitled to a total of more than 400 million US dollars.

In addition, according to the authority, Riot Games is alleged to have colluded with the law firm Rosen Saba, representing the plaintiffs, i.e. to have unlawfully colluded with the lawyers in order to keep the sum as low as possible. Both Rosen Saba and the publisher rejected this accusation.

400 million US dollars “outrageous” according to Riot Games
The applicants are represented by Melanie McCracken, Jessica Negron and Gabriela Downie. The class action is now likely to continue because the three have sought new legal representation with Genie Harrison, a lawyer specializing in women’s rights. With their help, a higher compensation payment should be achieved.

Riot Games itself told the website gamesindustry.biz on Monday: “[…] We believe our offer was fair and appropriate to the circumstances.” However, the company described the sum of 400 million US dollars in the room as “outrageous”.

Dispute since 2018
At the beginning of August 2018, employees of Riot Games, current and former, had already reported on sexism in the everyday work of the game developer. In November of the same year, a class action lawsuit was filed against the LoL publisher on the grounds of gender discrimination.

A total of up to 1,000 women who worked for Riot Games between November 2014 and the date of a settlement in the case are said to have joined the suit. Each agreed payment would be divided among the 1,000 plaintiffs, with the claims varying individually.