Riot Games agrees to pay $100 million to settle gender discrimination lawsuit

(Reuters) - Tencent Holdings' Riot Games on Monday said it has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a 2018 gender-based discrimination class-action lawsuit with California state agencies and current and former women employees.

The company said it will pay $80 million to the members of the class-action suit, comprising all current and former full-time women employees and temporary agency contractors in California who worked from November 2014 to present.

An additional $20 million will be paid towards attorneys’ fees and miscellaneous expenses, Riot Games said in a statement.

"In an effort to drive ongoing transparency and accountability, Riot has also committed to having its internal reporting and pay equity processes monitored by a third party jointly approved by Riot and the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing for three years," the company said.

A final approval of the settlement by the court is pending, with a hearing expected in the coming months, the statement added.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2018 by now-former employees Melanie McCracken and Jess Negrón, alleging gender discrimination as well as sexual harassment and misconduct at Riot Games, the Washington Post reported https://wapo.st/32tEApi on Monday. The suit was followed by two inquiries led by California state agencies, the reported added.

(Reporting by Shivam Patel; additional reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)