League of Legends creator Riot Games is the subject of an ongoing investigation over workplace gender discrimination by the State of California, and the state is now filing a suit over Riot's apparent lack of cooperation. Riot has since responded, claiming that they've complied with state demands, and that it's actually the investigators that have been less than cooperative.
The investigation, being carried out by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH), was prompted after employees spoke out about a history of workplace discrimination and harassment at Riot Games, with some current and former staffers even taking legal action against the employer. Riot attracted even more negative public attention when it refused calls from within and outside the company to abandon its forced arbitration policy regarding those lawsuits, only eliminating the backwards policy for new hires and promising to improve its toxic work environment. This refusal sparked massive outrage, inspiring other Riot developers to stage the gaming industry's first-ever organized walkout in protest of the large studio's actions.
Now, California's DFEH is filing an investigation enforcement suit over Riot's alleged failure to hand over basic documentation needed to determine whether or not the employer is underpaying female employees in comparison to their male peers. Considering the investigation began shortly after workplace discrimination became public knowledge late last year, it sounds as if Riot may be dragging its feet as much as possible in cooperating with the state agency. According to DFEH Director Kevin Kish, the reason for the suit is as follows:
“DFEH has broad authority to investigate potential violations of California’s civil rights laws similar to grand jury proceedings. When companies fail to cooperate voluntarily with our investigations, including with our investigative discovery, DFEH will exercise its right to seek assistance from the courts. Doing so ensures our investigations are informed by relevant evidence and completed without unnecessary delay.”
Riot has since issued a response to the DFEH's claims and the inherent implications of the enforcement suit in a statement shared with Kotaku, proclaiming:
"We’ve been in active conversations with the DFEH since its inquiry began. Investigations like this can arise when there have been allegations of workplace disparity and we’ve been cooperating in good faith with the DFEH to address its concerns. During this time, we’ve promptly responded to the DFEH’s requests, and have produced over 2,500 pages of documents and several thousand lines of pay data so far. We’ve also made several recent requests that the DFEH participate in a call with us to address their requests. To date, these requests have been unanswered, so we’re frankly disappointed to see the DFEH issue a press release alleging that we’ve been non-cooperative. 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."
Despite the studio's claims of cooperation with the state government, its response leaves quite a lot to be desired, and it's sure to not inspire any additional mercy or patience from the DFEH. The entire reason for the agency's enforcement suit is the supposedly unmet need for sufficient employee pay data in order to conclude if Riot pays its staff fairly across the board, but Riot's publicly provided figures of "2,500 pages of documents" and "several thousand lines of pay data" seem purposefully empty and vague.
Hopefully, Riot will at last come to its senses soon and simply hand the requested documents to the DFEH rather than have them taken against its will, the latter of which would be an even worse look for the company's already tattered image. Based on the developer's consistently poor responses to public backlash, though, this development won't likely be the last in Riot's workplace discrimination scandal.
Sources: Kotaku, State of California Department of Fair Employment and Housing