Riot Games Faced with Staff Walk-Out

• Riot Games holds talks with employees
• Staff members plan a walk-out on Monday, May 6
• Riot has assured the public that the company wants to involve employees in solving the issue

Amid Kotaku reports that Riot Games’ employee plan a walk out, the company held talks with staff members on Monday. The reason was an attempt on the part of the game maker to shut two lawsuits against it by force arbitration

Riot Games Holds Talks with Employees Amid Lawsuits

League of Legends developer has caught the attention of media outlet Kotaku before when Cecilia D’Anastasio published her award-winning piece “Inside the Culture of Sexism at Riot Games”.

D’Anastasio shed light on a man-dominated culture where female job seekers were “not gamers enough” or “ladder climbers”.

Following the publishing, female employees filed lawsuits. Last Thursday, Riot Games reportedly sought measures to block plaintiffs from continuing with a legal action against the company.

A handful of Riot employees are threatening to walk out if Riot doesn't change its stance on forced arbitration. I'm hearing others are not enthusiastic or don't feel prepared to participate: https://t.co/7qTuXcCQLm

— Cecilia D'Anastasio (@cecianasta) April 29, 2019

The news was again reported by Kotaku with Riot Games rushing to make amends and talk to employees on Monday.

The issue is whether Riot Games can use arbitration to settle the case. According to the company’s attorney – this is part of the contracts of employees. However, they have responded by saying that should Riot Games try to use arbitration to block them from seeking litigation, they will stage a walk out, thus giving more publicity to the issue.

Kotaku’s original report didn’t fall on deaf ears as Riot immediately sought a way out. One of the ways to address the issue was appointing a new chief diversity officer, Angela Roseboro. However, a lingering feeling of injustice still persisted.

In a letter written by Riot to media outlet Variety, the company still very much cares about solving issues with the help of employees:

We always want Rioters to have the opportunity to be heard, so we’re sitting down today to listen to their opinions and learn more about their perspectives on arbitration

No Say in the Outcome

It seems like Riot has the legal higher ground as the company can use arbitration. However, the entire concept seems eroded as it usually yields fewer benefits for employees as opposed to court litigation.

Riot aren’t looking to force the issue any more, based on their official statement. They would much rather find a way that contents all parties involved.

We have acknowledged that there are improvements we can make to our culture and community — we have made progress and are hyper-focused on continuing to do so. We have been evaluating all of our procedures and policies, including those related to arbitration.

The readiness to change and acknowledge mistakes within Riot is commendable, but it required considerable scrutiny to address issues that must had been known even before Kotaku started digging.

If no success is achieved, Riot’s employees will be staging a walk-out on Monday, May 6, Kotaku reports. While arbitration means that the company has an advantage in settling disputes, it doesn’t preclude employees from suing. Riot needs to do better to move forward.