Riot Games is willing to pay $100 million to reach a sex discrimination class action lawsuit

League of Legends publisher Riot Games announced Monday that it is willing to pay $100 million to settle a 2018 sexist class action lawsuit. The company will pay $80 million to members of the class action lawsuit and approximately $20 million in plaintiff legal fees.

The class action lawsuit, filed in November 2018 by former employees Melanie McCracken and Jess Negrón, alleges sexism and sexual harassment and misconduct at Riot Games. After the lawsuit, California government agencies led two investigations.

The lawsuit comes after the game news site Kotaku published a exposé about riot games' sexist culture in which female employees were asked to be "core players" and League of Legends players in job interviews. In the article, women said that during the hiring process, they were rejected because they did not fully meet these criteria.

Genie Harrison, the plaintiffs' lawyer and employment and sexual harassment lawyer, said: "This is a great day for the women of Riot Games – and for women from all video games and tech companies – who deserve a workplace free of harassment and discrimination. We appreciate Riot's introspection and work since 2018 to become a more diverse and inclusive company."

Riot agreed to settle the lawsuit in 2019 for $10 million, but the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) intervened to block the deal with a court filing that argued that victims should be entitled to up to $400 million. DFEH issued a press release Monday night acknowledging the settlement.

The new solution was reached with DFEH, the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) and certain individual claimants. All current and former California employees and contractors who have worked at Riot since November 2014 are eligible for reimbursement. At least 2,300 workers are eligible for compensation, and those who started earlier or worked longer at the company will receive more funding allocations. Riot will pay a settlement fund and then distribute it to the claimants after court approval.

In an email sent to Riot Games employees On Monday night, five of the company's executives spoke about the settlement. In the email, he wrote: "We would like to admit that the timing of this announcement is not ideal. The final details of the agreement are quickly formed and we hope you will hear the news directly from us, rather than seeing it in the news during the break."