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Niantic faces lawsuit over alleged workplace sexism & pay discrimination

A former employee caught in the company's recent layoffs has alleged that the Pokemon Go dev created a 'boy's club' workplace and paid her less than her male peers.

TJ Denzer

July 11, 2023 10:25 AM

Image via Niantic Labs

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Bad news is continuing to come out of Niantic this month as the company faces a lawsuit from a former employee over allegations of a sexist workplace and pay discrimination at the Pokemon Go developer. The lawsuit was filed by an employee that was recently caught in Niantic’s layoffs, but she alleges that the company paid her under posted ranges and less than her male peers, as well as creating a ‘boys club’ culture that has been mired in sexism and dismissive of complaints.

This lawsuit was filed late last week against Niantic, as shared by The Verge. The plaintiff is an anonymous Jane Doe, but the complaint recognizes her as an Asian female who began work at Niantic in February 2020 and was laid off in the company’s job cuts and restructuring earlier this July. Jane Doe alleges that Niantic Labs devalued the work of female employees and women of color, as well as denying equal pay to women in comparison to equal male counterparts. Throughout 2021 and 2022, the employee found that a fellow male employee was being paid more than her despite her job demanding more.

The allegations go on to claim that the former employee saw her job title and level posted on the Niantic website, finding that she was being paid under the posted range by a sum of nearly $10,000 USD yearly. She also claims that when discussing the matter with fellow female staffers, there were many stories of complaints of sexism and gender inequality being either dismissed or met with hostility. She goes on to claim that following job evaluations were affected by her complaints.

Niantic has not responded openly to the lawsuit, but the lawsuit has been filed and is available to read now. Stay tuned as we continue to follow this story for further updates.

TJ Denzer

Senior News Editor

TJ Denzer is a player and writer with a passion for games that has dominated a lifetime. He found his way to the Shacknews roster in late 2019 and has worked his way to Senior News Editor since. Between news coverage, he also aides notably in livestream projects like the indie game-focused Indie-licious, the Shacknews Stimulus Games, and the Shacknews Dump. You can reach him at tj.denzer@shacknews.com and also find him on Twitter @JohnnyChugs.