Riot Games is closing an investigation into whether CEO Nicolo Laurent harassed or discriminated against former employee Sharon O’Donnell, saying it found “no evidence” for the allegation. “After analyzing the results of the investigation,” he said to Riot in a statement, “there is no evidence that Nicolo harassed, discriminated against or retaliated against Ms. O’Donnell. The Special Committee also expressed its full confidence in Nicolo’s leadership, that no action against him is justified and that he will continue to operate as CEO. “
The Washington Post reported the news earlier today, and Riot posted an overview of the investigation’s findings, as well as a letter from Laurent. THE Publish also reports that Riot asked a court to speed up legal proceedings for a lawsuit filed by O’Donnell earlier this year, trying to move the case to arbitration.
Riot, the studio behind games like Valorant and League of Legends, opened an investigation into Laurent after the O’Donnell lawsuit. A former executive assistant, O’Donnell claimed that Laurent made inappropriate sexual remarks and humiliating comments about his gender. She also claimed that she was fired after refusing sexual advances from the CEO.
Now, based on the findings of an external legal team, a special committee of the board of directors concluded that these claims were without merit. “This is not a recommendation that we take lightly,” the committee said in a statement. “Most cases of this nature are not black and white; they fall to the gray. However, this was not one of those cases. In this case, we simply could not find any evidence to justify a sanction of any kind against Laurent. “
Committee members said they would request that the case be reopened if new evidence emerged. O’Donnell’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the results of the investigation.
These claims against Laurent were part of a much larger controversy surrounding Riot’s corporate culture. Several employees repeated stories about widespread discrimination and harassment in the studio, prompting Riot to apologize and promise changes, including suspending the company’s COO for two months. In addition to the O’Donnell lawsuit, Riot is currently pushing to resolve a class action complaint for gender discrimination. A report yesterday suggested that Alienware ended a partnership with Riot after the allegations; Riot declined to comment on the allegation at the time.
In its statement, the board’s committee tried to separate Laurent’s investigation from a larger mission to change Riot’s culture. “Although our conclusion in this specific case is that no discrimination, harassment or retaliation has occurred, let us make it clear that, as a committee, we remain fully invested in overseeing the company’s initiatives to transform Riot’s culture,” he said. “We encourage any Riot employee who has gone through inappropriate conduct to feel safe to report it.”