A former Riot employee sued the game developers and its CEO, Nicolo Laurent, claiming multiple cases of inappropriate sexual behavior. Sharon O'Donnell left the company in July 2020 before filing a lawsuit in January 2021. Now, a Riot Games board committee confirmed the conclusion of a third-party investigation on the alleged sexual misconduct in the office. Riot goes on to claim that there is “no evidence” of Laurent engaging in questionable actions against any female employee.

RIOT GAMES CLAIMS “NO EVIDENCE”

The committee published a statement regarding the investigation into the allegations. The statement began by stating the objective presence of sexual misconduct in office settings.

“In cases involving high-ranking executives, we recognize that power dynamics can often give rise to behaviors and biases that infect the experiences of others within the organization in toxic ways. Moreover, in many such cases, reaching a conclusion about these kinds of allegations can be difficult.”

However, Riot Games concluded by stating that the current lawsuit against Laurent holds no ground. The committee fully claimed that there was no evidence to support O'Donnell's case.

“Most cases of this nature are not black and white; they fall into the grey. However, this was not one of those cases. In this case, we were simply unable to find any evidence that would justify a sanction of any kind against Laurent.”

The committee clarified that it will ask Riot to reopen the investigation if further information comes to light. Riot claiming there is “no evidence” of sexual misconduct does not automatically exonerate the company or its CEO. However, the effect of the multiple allegations of sexual misconduct has already affected the massive esports company.

Recently, hardware developer Alienware allegedly cut ties with Riot Games due to the ongoing lawsuit against CEO Nicolo Laurent. This proves that Riot's reputation has already been damaged regardless of the investigation findings. Now, what remains will be the official court ruling on the case against Riot Games and its CEO.