Tencent's League of Legends Publisher Settles 2018 Gender Discrimination Lawsuit For $100M

Riot Games, a unit of Tencent Holdings Limited TCEHY, is settling a gender-based discrimination class-action lawsuit dating back to 2018 for $100 million.

What Happened: The lawsuit with California’s state agencies and former women employees will see the “League of Legends” publisher pay $80 mullion to members of the class and $20 million towards the plaintiff’s legal fees, according to a press release from California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DEFH), noted through The Washington Post.

The lawsuit was reportedly filed in Nov. 2018 by former employees Melanie McCracken and Jess Negrón, who alleged gender discrimination, sexual harassment, and misconduct at the gaming company.

“This is a great day for the women of Riot Games — and for women at all video game and tech companies — who deserve a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination,” said the counsel for the plaintiffs, reported the Post.

Riot Games addressed its employees in an email seen by the Post. The company wrote, “We want to acknowledge that the timing of this announcement isn’t ideal. The final details of the agreement came together quickly, and we wanted you to hear about it from us directly rather than read about it in the news while on break.”

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Why It Matters: Previously, Riot agreed to settle the lawsuit in 2019, but DEFH blocked that agreement stating the victims should be entitled to $400 million, noted the Post.

As per the DEFH statement, women who worked as employees or contractors for Riot since Nov.6, 2014, may be eligible to receive compensation.

As per the terms of the settlement, Riot Games will have to create a $6 million cash reserve for each year of the three-year term of the consent decree for a total of $18 million to make pay adjustments and to fund diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.

The company will also have to make 40 full-time positions in engineer, quality assurance, or art-design roles to qualified class members who worked as temporary contractors in a competitive process.

Riot’s parent Tencent has plans to connect its games to the increasingly popular Metaverse. The company also owns a stake in the “Fortnite” maker Epic Games.

Price Action: On Monday, Tencent OTC shares closed nearly 1.5% lower at $59.38.

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Photo by Chris Yunker via Wikimedia