Riot Games employees have staged a walkout protest
Over 150 employees are speaking out against Riot’s forced arbitration and the company’s culture of sexual harassment.
A walkout has finally happened.
Over 150 “Rioters” gathered at a parking lot at the Riot Games office premises in Los Angeles yesterday afternoon to express their disappointment with the company,reported Kotaku.
The message of the Riot walkout was clear — to end forced arbitration inside the company. Armed with placards and a megaphone, speeches were made to encourage everyone to speak up against theLeague of Legendsdeveloper.
“I reported and he got promoted”#RiotWalkoutpic.twitter.com/ShWB9IulYN
Employees also used social media, such as Twitter, with the #RiotWalkout hashtag to speak about the issue, while organizations and gaming personalities also joined in to express their sentiments.
Mel-Capperino Garcia, associate program manager at Riot Games, tweeted that it was “unacceptable to just do a ‘talk out’ with the company about forced arbitration andsexual harassment“.
Today myself and several of my co-workers are standing up for what is right, just, and fair in regards to Forced Arbitration and Sexual Harassment. Its 2019, and forcing anyone to sit in a room with the company/person who did this and “talk it out” is unacceptable.#riotwalkout
Game Workers Unite stands in solidarity with all Riot Games workers participating in today’s walkout, to protest sexual harassment and Riots attempts to prevent sexual assault lawsuits via forced arbitration. ✊????✊????✊
History being written & the future being changed. I applaud the#riotwalkouttoday, & those taking risks to gain a collective seat at the table that defines their workplace. It shows with emphasis that our industry can not go back to ignoring the workers.https://t.co/eNNDgKWgWt
READ MORE:Workers reportedly planned major walkout at Riot Games
To be fair, Riot Games hasn’t been staying silent. The developer had released astatementearlier on May 3 on its plan to resolve this issue, stating that the company would give all new Rioters “the choice to opt-out of mandatory arbitration for individual sexual harassment and sexual assault claims”.
“As soon as current litigation is resolved, we will give all new Rioters the choice . At that time, we will also commit to have a firm answer around expanding the scope and extending this opt-out to all Rioters,” said Riot.
