Riot Games faces gender discrimination charges in employee lawsuit
Riot Games, known most for having developed League of Legends, has faced allegations of sexism in the workplace in the past few months, with reports of at least 28 employees describing Riot's workplace as "toxic". The company addressed the complaints by stating that they're working on making for a better working environment for all of its team. These allegations began in August, with the official statement from Riot following nearly a month thereafter. Now, as of November 5th, it appears that two workers, one former and one current, are in the process of suing Riot Games on the grounds of gender-based discrimination through unequal pay, bias, and harassment. Plaintiffs Jessica Negron, an ex-employee, and Melanie McCracken, still employed, are looking to receive compensation for improper treatment during their time at Riot, with the following stories describing their greivances.
Negron's claim is that she was hired onto the company, but once her manager left shortly after her hiring, she was forced to take on all of her superior's duties, but was not promoted to the job title that she was filling in for, or paid more for her extra work. She says that despite asking to be promoted, three other men were hired in succession, who all ended up quitting after a time. When she tried to ask for the promotion to the job, she instead was given the workload of the role, but without the title or pay that it came with.
McCracken states that for the past five years that she has worked for Riot Games, she was also denied promotions, which she ascertains are due to her gender, and not her capabilities. When she felt that Riot's COO had acted inappropriately, she had contacted the HR department, only for the HR worker to break confidentiality, and "leak" her comments to her supervisors. In another supposed incident with her COO, Scott Gelb, McCracken was told by Gelb to "cover up" assorted rumors about his actions at a dance club. After reports had broken about inappropriate behavior at the company, McCracken says the male workers blamed her for it, and she was moved to another building, away from the main team.
After the lawsuit, Riot Games made the following statement:
Riot Games said:While we do not discuss the details of ongoing litigation, we can say that we take every allegation of this nature seriously and investigate them thoroughly. We remain committed to a deep and comprehensive evolution of our culture to ensure Riot is a place where all Rioters thrive.
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