Riot Games has had a turbulent 12 months. In August of last year, Kotaku published a story alleging that the League of Legends developer has a toxic and sexist workplace environment. This was followed up earlier this year when five lawsuits were filed against the company from employees who state the studio has violated the California Equal Pay Act. Each of the five lawsuits cites in-house sexism influencing hiring practices and creating a `bro culture` within Riot Games. When the company responded by filing a forced arbitration against two of the cases, more than 150 employees staged a walkout in protest.One of the lawsuits--a class action that alleged claims of gender discrimination in pay and promotion, sexual harassment, and retaliation against women working at Riot offices in California--has, in principle, been settled outside of court`We realize that this is a path that many companies in our position may not have chosen,` a Riot statement says, `but we felt it was the strongest statement we could make to Rioters, and prospective Rioters, that we`re prepared to go over and above in order to move forward. Both sides believe that this proposed settlement, once finalized, is fair for all parties involved. In addition, we`re hopeful that the settlement will allow us to continue our momentum (as described here and here) in making Riot a leader in inclusive workplaces.`Riot says it has been working to review and address the concerns that were raised in the lawsuits. `We will continue to strive to be a great company and one that cares about its employees and its players,` the statements goes on to say. `After extensively reviewing these issues, we can confidently state that gender discrimination (in pay or promotion), sexual harassment, and retaliation are not systemic issues at Riot.`But, what we also learned during this process was that some Rioters have had experiences that did not live up to our values or culture. In addition, we`ve encountered considerable fat ...
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