Riot Games clears CEO of harassment, discrimination allegations
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Riot Games’ investigation of chief executive Nicolo Laurent, following a workplace discrimination lawsuit filed against the
League of Legends
company in January, was “unable to find any evidence that would justify a sanction of any kind,” a committee of the company’s board of directors said on Tuesday.
A special committee of the board said it “concluded that there was no evidence that Laurent harassed, discriminated, or retaliated against” Sharon O’Donnell, a former executive assistant whose civil suit alleges Laurent did do such things. The committee, formed from Riot board members who are not company co-founders, hired an outside law firm to investigate the matter. That firm and the committee reported the results in the statement posted to the company website.
Published 16 Mar, 2021
Riot Games say that the third-party investigation they initiated into CEO Nicolo Laurent has found no evidence of wrongdoing, and their own special committee recommends no action be taken against him. The investigation was prompted by Riot Games after a lawsuit was brought against Laurent and the company in January which alleged that he had harassed an employee and that Riot Games had fired her when she complained. The lawsuit is ongoing.
The investigation into Laurent s conduct was performed by external law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP, who presented their findings to a three-person special committee at Riot Games. The special committee, as reported by the Washington Post, consisted of Riot Games board member Youngme Moon and two male C-level executives from Riot Games owner Tencent.
March 17th, 2021
INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - NOVEMBER 02: CEO of Riot Games, Nicolo Laurent at Mastercard Nexus at the 2018 League of Legends World Championship on November 2, 2018 in Incheon, South Korea. (Photo by Hannah Smith/ESPAT Media for Mastercard via Getty Images) ESPAT Media via Getty Images
After conducting an internal investigation, Riot Games said it found no evidence of harassment by CEO Nicolo Laurent against a former employee, Sharon O Donnell, the
Washington Post has reported. “We concluded that there was no evidence that Laurent harassed, discriminated, or retaliated against the plaintiff,” the company said in a statement. “We have therefore reached the conclusion that, at the current time … no action should be taken against Laurent.”
socaltech.com
Los Angeles-based videogame developer
Riot Games said on Tuesday that a special committee has cleared its CEO, Nicolo Laurent, of alleged misconduct. Riot Games said that it hired an outside law firm, Seyfarth Shaw LLP, to investigation the allegations. The firms said a special committee of the board reviewed results from the outside investigation and concluded that there was no evidence that Laurent harassed, discriminated, or retaliated against the plaintiff. Laurent had been accused of sexual harassment and gender discriination by former executive assistant Sharon O Donnell in January.
After lawsuit alleges sexual harassment and discrimination. Updated on 17 March 2021
Riot Games has announced that following an investigation into allegations of misconduct by CEO Nicolo Laurent, no evidence to support the claims has been found - and Laurent will not face sanctions.
The investigation was commissioned by Riot in response to a lawsuit by former Riot executive assistant Sharon O Donnell, filed in January, which accused Laurent of sexual harassment, gender discrimination and wrongful termination. Outside law firm Seyfarth Shaw LLP carried out the investigation, then gave its results to the Special Committee of Riot s Board of Directors (a committee of directors created in 2018 to oversee the company s progress in diversity and inclusion following a Kotaku exposé on widespread sexism at the company). The Special Committee reviewed the results of the investigation, and concluded that there was no evidence to support the claims.