Recent events have forced gamers to reckon with the incredibly toxic cultures of the companies behind their favorite franchises. The rampant and institutional sexual harassment experienced by Ubisoft, Blizzard, and Riot Games employees laid bare the ugliest side of AAA game development.
As part of an ongoing legal battle, the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing demands that Riot Games informs employees they have a right to make statements to the agency. This is just the latest salvo in the legal battle over the company’s alleged culture of sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
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On June 4th, the DFEH secured a court ruling that requires Riot to inform its current and former employees of their legal right to speak with regulators. However, the California state agency alleges that Riot has been dragging its feet when sending out court-ordered notices. Riot denies the allegations, claiming that the studio is complying with the court order. The company also denies retaliating against employees who spoke with government agencies. The DFEH remains unconvinced and is petitioning for a court order to enforce the earlier ruling.
The ongoing legal battle began with a class-action lawsuit filed against Riot Games in 2018. A group of employees accused the company of creating a hostile work environment for female employees. This included, but was not limited to, male employees sending unsolicited images of their genitalia to their female coworkers. Female employees also reportedly faced verbal sexual harassment and at least one instance of a manager sexually assaulting an employee. In addition, plaintiffs also accused Riot Games of excluding women from promotions and retaliating against employees who complained about the toxic work environment.
The DFEH intervened over Riot’s attempts to force the case into legal arbitration. This prompted 150 developers to stage a walkout in 2019. Their action eventually caused Riot to remove the arbitration clause from its future employment contracts. The studio later offered plaintiffs a $10 million settlement to drop the lawsuit. However, state regulators objected, arguing that the amount wasn’t sufficiently punitive. A judge later sent the case back to arbitration, citing language in the plaintiff’s contracts. However, that lawsuit is distinct from the case filed by the State of California.
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing is an office of the state government charged with investigating allegations of workplace and housing discrimination. It is the largest such agency in the United States, with a purview including workplace sexual harassment. The California DFEH is the also same agency behind the ongoing sexual harassment lawsuit against Activision Blizzard.
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Source: Gamasutra
