Update 24-01-2020:
Riot Games responded to the claims made by the Department of Fair employment (DFEH) by saying the $400 million figure is absurd. The statement provided to PCGamesN reads:
The DFEH’s claim that the ‘maximum exposure in back pay owed to female employees alone exceeds $400m’ is outrageous, reckless, and without any basis in fact or law. Indeed, there are numerous methodological deficiencies in how the DFEH reaches this number, each of which makes the ultimate conclusion wholly unsound.
The original article follows:
League of Legends developer Riot Games has been under scrutiny after two women have filed a class action lawsuit. The Los Angeles based company is accused of sexism by not equally paying their male and female staff. While it initially seemed like the developer would settle for $10 million, they might not get off that easy after all. The settlement could now reach numbers in the hundreds of millions, according to the LA Times.
The gender discrimination class action would initially be resolved by Riot Games paying $10m in damages to around 1000 former female employees of the company. But before the settlement could be approved by the Californian court, the Department of Fair employment and Housing (DFEH) chimed in.
According to that government agency, the amount of money the women would be entitled to could climb to a whopping $400m. And while – based on the time the ex-employees worked at Riot Games – some of the women involved might be millionaires soon.
Riot Games is not forced to change their policies or company work environment though. In the LA Times article, the DFEH is quoted, saying “no enforceable changes to employment policies, at a company alleged to be rife with sexism, are part of the settlement.”
The next few weeks will determine the faith of this huge anti gender discrimination lawsuit. On January 31 the Californian court will decide whether the DFEH is right to intervene. Then on February 3 the judge will decide about the initial $10m settlement.
Meanwhile Riot Games is working on multiple games set in the LoL universe. You can read all about what we know about the mysterious projects here.