In December, League of Legends studio Riot Games agreed to a $10 million settlement in a class action lawsuit filed against the company in 2018 stemming from claims of systematic sex and gender-based discrimination at the studio. The settlement will be distributed to approximately 1,000 women employed by the studio from November 2014 until the settlement was approved by the court.

The situation took a turn for the worse when the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing became involved in January and stated that plaintiffs were being paid far more than the settlement, nearly $390 million in fact.

Riot was understandably "disappointed," stating that he had "negotiated hard with the attorneys representing the class and reached an agreement that we believe is fair to the class members." The plaintiffs were also disappointed with their own attorneys, not the DFEH, and went on to hire new counsel: women's rights attorney Ginny Harrison, who had been involved in the lawsuit against disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, and California employment attorney Joseph Lovretovich.

"These brave women have spoken out against gender inequality and sex discrimination. 'Our talented statisticians are already analyzing the payroll data. We intend to achieve systemic reform to restore the compensation that should be paid to the women of the Riot Games and level the playing field for women."

The new defense team withdrew its motion to approve the $10 million settlement while it obtained "an expert analysis of the alleged wage disparities for women at Riot Games," which the DFEH said the original defense team in the case had failed to do. The agency also accused the plaintiffs' lawyers of making multiple procedural errors in the case and failing to include non-monetary terms in the agreement: "In a company where sex discrimination is allegedly widespread, enforceable changes in employment policies were not part of the settlement," it said in January.

Despite the reaction to DFEH's intervention, Riot told The Hollywood Reporter that it supports the plaintiffs' right to seek new legal representation.

"We are aware that plaintiffs' new attorneys have withdrawn their pending motion for preliminary approval, which will give us ample time to review the proposed settlement agreement. We have also filed a joint statement with plaintiffs' new counsel expressing our continued commitment to a fair resolution for all parties involved," the spokesperson said.

"With regard to the outlandish numbers being presented by DFEH, we reiterate that there is no basis in fact or reason that would justify that level of exposure. While we acknowledge that there is work that needs to be done to better align with our values, we also make it clear to our employees that we will protect ourselves from false narratives and unfair claims that do nothing to ameliorate the hardships of actual class members."

Thank you, GamesIndustry.