Friday, March 11, 2022

"Riot Games settles class-action gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million"/ "Amazon worker records alleged sexual harassment she encounters in every shift

I'm posting this article in in honor of International Women's Day (Mar.8). 


Dec. 28, 2021 "Riot Games settles class-action gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million": Today I found this article by Mariella Moon on Yahoo news.  I like this article because there was justice for the sexual harassment victims because they got paid for these damages and they got their story out:


Riot Games has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in November 2018 by former employees alleging gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation.

 The League of Legends publisher was only going to pay $10 million per the preliminary settlement in 2019, but the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing went to court to block the agreement. $10 million was much too small, the agency argued, and the women suing the company could be entitled to as much as $400 million.

The lawsuit was originally filed by Melanie McCracken and Jess Negrón after a Kotaku report exposed the developers' "men-first" and "bro" company culture. In the report, Kotaku detailed employees' experiences within the company, such as instances of "genital grabbing" and senior leaders passing around lists of employees they would sleep with. One former employee who left the company due to sexism said working for Riot was like "working at a giant fraternity."

Under the terms of the settlement, $80 million will go towards members of the class-action lawsuit, while $20 million will go towards the plaintiffs' legal fees. All employees and contractors in California who identify as women and who worked at Riot between November 2014 until present day qualify for a payout. Those who've been with the company longer will get a bigger cut than newer workers. And there are quite a lot of newer ones — while only around 1,000 workers were qualified for a payout in 2019, there are now around 2,300 eligible personnel. In a statement, the developer told The Washington Post:

"Three years ago, Riot was at the heart of what became a reckoning in our industry. We had to face the fact that despite our best intentions, we hadn’t always lived up to our values. As a company we stood at a crossroads; we could deny the shortcomings of our culture, or we could apologize, correct course, and build a better Riot. We chose the latter... While we're proud of how far we’ve come since 2018, we must also take responsibility for the past. We hope that this settlement properly acknowledges those who had negative experiences at Riot."

In addition to paying $100 million, Riot Games is also required to get a third-party expert to conduct "sex/gender equity analysis of total compensation, assignment and promotion outcomes for California employees." Riot must also allow pay transparency and will have to be monitored by a third party, who'll keep an eye on things like HR complaints and pay equity, for three years. The monitor will be able to recommend changes to the company that Riot can implement. 

Genie Harrison, the women's rights attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said in a statement:

"This is a great day for the women of Riot Games – and for women at all video game and tech companies – who deserve a workplace that is free of harassment and discrimination. We appreciate Riot’s introspection and work since 2018 toward becoming a more diverse and inclusive company, its willingness to take responsibility for its past, and its commitment to fairness and equality in the future. Along with the DFEH and DLSE, the brave women of Riot who carried the torch of justice have achieved a precedent-setting result that stands as a beacon for other women and as a warning that employers had better pay and treat women fairly, or else be held accountable."


 Riot Games settles class-action gender discrimination lawsuit for $100 million (yahoo.com)



Jan. 25, 2022 "Amazon worker records alleged sexual harassment she encounters in every shift": Today I found this article by Sravasti Dasgupta on Yahoo news:


An Amazon packer has alleged that she is routinely sexually harassed by male colleagues at the warehouse where she works.

In a TikTok video on Sunday, Priscilla, who goes by the username @misss_thanggg, posted comments that she receives while she packs at the warehouse.

She captioned the video as “if you work at Amazon, you know.”

The video showed her packing boxes with captions of comments she received.

The captions included, “What’s your snap [Snapchat]?”, “Let’s chill on break” and “Ayye what’s your name?”

She also refers to a man as a “thirsty water spider” as he comes up to her and asks for her number.

The TikTok video received over 105,000 views and over 10,000 likes by Monday.

Users on the social media platform responded to her video with sexist comments including blaming her for her clothes for the harassment that she allegedly faces.

“Now is the way she’s at work the appropriate work clothing. Then calls guys thirsty,” wrote one user.

Another user wrote, “I mean you look very welcoming with that outfit why you complaining.”

“Why dress like that at a warehouse,” said another comment.

Priscilla took on some of the sexist comments directed at her and said: “Boy I can be wearing a damn sweater and joggers they still be attacking like piranhas lmao.”

She also found support from other users who defended her and said what she wore is not a cause for harassment.

“The fact that you guys are saying because of what she’s wearing is what’s wrong with the world, a girl she be able to wear what she wants,” wrote one user.

Some other users said that they had faced similar incidents while working at Amazon.

One user wrote: “She ain’t wrong I work at Amazon and most of the guys are like that sum of the girls are like that too.”

“People gotta stop harassing girls at work. You keep your head up. You’re goo️d, stay safe,” wrote one user.

Employees at Amazon have flagged instances of sexual harassment in the past.

Last year in May, women working in corporate roles or warehouse management filed lawsuits against Amazon based on alleged discrimination from white managers, reported Dailydot.

In May 2020 a Canadian woman alleged that she was groped and forced to kiss an HR manager. She said she was blamed later when she tried to report the incident.

Amazon worker records alleged sexual harassment she encounters in every shift (yahoo.com)


This is from my Mar. 2021 blog post:

"#MeToo movement becomes #WeToo in in victim-blaming Japan"/ "Outrage as women in Japan told not wear glasses in the workplace"


Aug. 17, 2020 Saying: I found this on Facebook:

"You never look good when you are trying to make someone else look bad."- Unknown

Cham: Sometimes people need to be exposed for who they are hahah or maybe I should stop being petty

Tracy Au: There's a difference between trying to make someone look bad, and exposing them for who they are. It's like those #MeToo accusers and victims, they are plainly telling everybody about the perpetrators. They're not trying to make them look bad.


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