The State of California is investigating League of Legends creator Riot Games over allegations of workplace gender discrimination.
Last month, over 100 employees at Riot Games participated in a walkout to protest a workplace culture filled with toxic masculinity and gender discrimination. The walkout gathered national headlines as the first work action taken by a major games studio. Supported by Game Workers Unite, an organization fighting for better work conditions for game developers, Riot employees sent a message to management that the status-quo is no longer tenable.
Unfortunately, it seems that message fell on deaf ears. Thus far, Riot has taken no action to address the walkout’s chief complaint, which was to change the company’s policy regarding forced arbitration for accusations of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace.
But where organized work action fails, the state might succeed. According to a new report from Kotaku, Riot Games is under investigation by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) for alleged gender discrimination within the company.
The investigation began last October but has thus far been unsuccessful. According to a statement released by the Department, Riot Games has stonewalled the investigation by refusing to provide basic employment data when asked--employment data that Riot is legally required to possess under California law.
According to the Department, Riot “refused to provide the Department with adequate information for DFEH to analyze whether women are paid less than men at the company,” thus forcing the DFEH to file suit against them in order to obtain those documents.
For their part, Riot refutes the Department’s story that they’ve been anything but helpful in complying with the DFEH investigation. In a statement provided to Kotaku, Riot says they’ve provided 2,500 documents thus far and made several phone calls to address the investigation.
"We’re confident that we’ve made substantial progress on diversity, inclusion, and company culture, and look forward to continue demonstrating this to the DFEH," read the statement.
For the entire statement, check out Kotaku's reporting on the matter here.