• News

Riot Games employees plan for walkout today

Time is up for Riot Games as employees plan to stage a walkout in protest of the company's stance on forced arbitration.

Asif Khan

May 6, 2019 1:20 PM

3

Riot Games employees are preparing for a walkout today in protest of the company's stance on forced arbitration. The developer of League of Legends has been been hit by multiple lawsuits over the past year alleging that the company violated the California Equal Pay Act, among other allegations of very troubling behavior. The internal disputes between the company and its employees appear to be boiling over today as many employees will walk out of their place of work in protest of management.

Five former and current Riot Games employees have filed lawsuits against Riot Games in the last year, and the company filed a motion in April to block two of those lawsuits. Riot's lawyers claim that the employees signed arbitration agreements which waived their rights to a trial by jury against the company. It appears that this was the final straw for a number of employees who had hoped their coworkers would have their days in court.

The original lawsuits against Riot Games highlighted a toxic bro culture that allegedly goes all the way to the top of management. Kotaku filed a very in-depth report last year that unearthed many stories of disgusting behavior at the company. “The ‘bro culture’ there is so real,” said a former female employee. “It’s agonizingly real. It’s like working at a giant fraternity.” There are reports of internal email lists in which management ranked female employees by attractiveness and there appears to be a history of women being looked over for promotions.

There are a lot of ways to look at this from the outside, but we have put together some tweets from Riot Games employees explaining why they are walking out today:

Today is the #RiotWalkout. Time to show leadership we are serious. Sexual harassment and protecting abusers will not be tolerated. We deserve to work at a place where we feel safe and welcomed.

— Riot LadyGnar | Kiley (@MissyKiley) May 6, 2019

i will be speaking at the #RiotWalkout today to share messages of support from players and workers from other companies. I am so proud to be at Riot and things are getting better, but we have a long way to go to make it truly inclusice. Let’s make Riot a dream job for ANYONE pic.twitter.com/bWCflsqMJb

— im jocelyn (@guldeuxchats) May 6, 2019

I am participating in the #riotwalkout today. It should not be legal to force workers into arbitration when they suffer sexual harassment-- or any other discrimination, really. It's already not legal in several states. I'd like my company to be on the cutting edge of this issue!!

— Laura Michet (@lmichet) May 6, 2019

We will be watching for more news around the Riot Games walkout today, as it is reportedly going to be the largest walkout in game studio history. We applaud the employees for standing up for their rights, and will be sure to update our readers as news continues to break from this developing story.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.