Riot Games (League of Legends) CEO Nicolo Laurent has had an illustrious career that took a nod in 2021. A fired assistant accused him of sexually harassing her. She was unlawfully terminated in 2020. The assistant sued the LoL company Riot Games. Laurent stepped down in May 2023 to focus on his family. An arbitration tribunal has now decided: The allegations against Nicolo Laurent are unfounded.
These were the allegations: In January 2021, former executive assistant Sharon O’Donnell made allegations against Riot Games:
7 facts about LoL that only real veterans know
More videos
Autoplay
The lawsuit came at a time when Riot Games was heavily criticized
What did the assistant ask for? O’Donnell sued Riot Games for lost wages, medical expenses and damages. She also accused Riot of firing her after she complained to human resources.
Riot Games struggles with culture of sexism
Why was the situation so difficult for Riot back then? In August 2018, a report from the website Kotaku appeared that accused Riot Games of having a sexist culture. It should be like a student union (via kotaku).
The report apparently found fertile ground: there were open letters, strikes, further lawsuits and investigations.
Riot Games responded by offering women-only seminars and hiring a Harvard professor to change the company’s culture.
Riot Games didn’t calm down for a year after the revelations. In December 2019, it paid out $10 million to 1,000 women who worked at Riot Games. Immediately afterward came O’Donnell’s complaint.
Riot Games backed their CEO back then
How did Riot Games behave? Riot Games said in an initial statement: It’s been 7 months since O’Donnell was fired. Various people had complained about her. Any claims that it is different are simply false (via dotesports).
In March 2021, Riot Games announced the results of a committee that investigated the allegations against the CEO. Riot hired an outside law firm to investigate.
The committee concluded that there was no evidence that Laurent had done anything and nothing should be done against him.
But although the internal investigation was completed in March 2021, it would still be years before the official external investigation was completed.
CEO steps down to focus on family
What was the consequence for the CEO? In May 2023, Nicolo Laurent stepped down as CEO to focus on his family.
He said the decision came because he wanted to spend more time with his 4 children and move back to France.
Being the boss of such a large company puts a lot of strain on him.
At the time, it seemed as if the decision had nothing to do with the lawsuit against him, but in a new statement, Riot Games reveals how much the lawsuit has burdened the CEO and his family.
This is the status now: Riot Games now announces (via riot) that an arbitration tribunal has decided in the case of Sharon O’Donnell against Riot Games. All allegations against Riot Games and Nicolo Laurent are unfounded.
Riot Games emphasizes that their company is no place for harassment and discrimination. And you support employees who speak openly if they themselves have experienced misconduct or have observed it in others.
But they will not tolerate any malicious allegations against the company or employees, but will take action against them with the utmost conviction – even if that means going through years of litigation.
The legal dispute damaged Riot Games and its teams, and it also caused Nicolo’s family a lot of pain. Nicolo is now considering his next steps, perhaps also steps of a legal nature. Riot Games will support him in this.
Riot Games says: We are deeply grateful that the facts prevailed in the end.
That’s what lies behind it: This is a tricky story that shows how important differentiation is and that you have to look closely at each individual case. There was undoubtedly systemic misconduct at Riot Games and there was an urgent need for a change in the culture there.
In the case of Nicolo Laurent, it seems that he was so blameless that Riot Games fully supported him from the start and that this trust has apparently now, years later, proven to be justified. Accusations of sexism have not only come against Riot Games in recent years: “Cocaine in the toilet, sex in the lounge” – the scandal surrounding WoW developer Blizzard has escalated