A class action lawsuit was filed against Riot Games yesterday by one current\u00a0and one former employee, who allege that Riot allowed gender-based discrimination and promoted an environment catered to putting\u00a0male employees first.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The lawsuit comes three months after<\/a>\u00a0several current and former Riot employees pulled back the curtain hiding a\u00a0toxic workplace environment which ultimately\u00a0drives women out of the studio.<\/p>\n The plaintiffs include former Riot employee Jessica Negron and current employee\u00a0Melanie McCracken,\u00a0who claim they want\u00a0to prevent Riot from \u201ccreating, encouraging, and maintaining a work environment that exposes its female employees to discrimination, harassment, and retaliation on the basis of their gender or sex.”<\/p>\n According to those who have shared their experiences,<\/a> Riot fosters a hostile environment for some of the women who work there and cultivates a feedback culture which rewards men and demeans women.<\/p>\n Riot responded to the allegations by<\/a>\u00a0providing plans to move forward and correct the company culture that has enabled those past wrongs, even hiring\u00a0Uber’s<\/a> former senior vice president for leadership and strategy\u00a0Frances Frei\u00a0to help improve its workplace culture.\u00a0<\/p>\n However as\u00a0Kotaku reports<\/a>, the lawsuit claims\u00a0that\u00a0\u201clike many of Riot Games\u2019 female employees, Plaintiffs have been denied equal pay and found their careers stifled because they are women.”<\/p>\n “Moreover, Plaintiffs have also seen their working conditions negatively impacted because of the ongoing sexual harassment, misconduct, and bias which predominate the sexually-hostile working environment of Riot Games.\u201d<\/p>\n