A former Niantic worker filed a lawsuit in opposition to the AR gaming firm on Friday, alleging that it devalued the work of feminine workers and ladies of shade, denied equal pay to girls workers and ladies of shade. The lawsuit, which is searching for class-action standing, accuses Niantic of making a “boys membership.” The worker was laid off as a part of final week’s job cuts on the firm, which affected about 230 staffers.
The worker, who’s an nameless Jane Doe however is described within the criticism as an Asian feminine, began work at Niantic in February 2020 with a wage of $70,000, the criticism says. Later that yr, she was promoted and acquired a elevate to about $84,000, however in “roughly” 2021, she discovered that Niantic was paying a male colleague more cash although she had the next job title and extra duties than he did.
In 2022, he was allegedly paid $127,000 per yr, however she was paid $105,000 per yr regardless of being one job degree larger. In or round spring 2023, she acquired a elevate to $115,000 per yr, nonetheless under her male colleague.
She discovered she was being paid greater than $10,000 beneath her job’s pay vary
Round that very same time, the worker additionally noticed that Niantic posted the pay vary for her job title and degree — as of 2023, California employers with greater than 15 staffers have to share pay ranges in job listings due to a pay transparency legislation — and noticed that she was being paid greater than $10,000 lower than the underside finish of that vary.
The worker mentioned her issues with different feminine staffers, and sexism and equal pay have been introduced up within the firm’s worker sources group for ladies, Wolfpack.
However when the worker introduced her issues to Niantic’s Range Fairness and Inclusion Director and Principal Individuals Associate, they “made clear” that “they and male higher administration at Niantic have been hostile to her complaints or voiced issues about sexism or sexual bias within the office,” the criticism says.
The executives within the assembly additionally allegedly mentioned her job evaluations have been affected by her discussing office points together with her colleagues and mentioned that she was paid under the vary as a result of she had raised issues together with her colleagues. Based on the criticism, the worker then “instantly unsubscribed” from the Wolfpack group “in worry that her affiliation with Wolfpack would drawback Wolfpack workers or her.”
This yr, Wolfpack present in a survey of staffers that “many feminine workers seen Niantic as a sexist work tradition that disadvantages feminine workers” and a majority of respondents “expressed issues about equal pay at Niantic,” the criticism says. When these survey findings the place shared with higher administration, “Niantic’s Chief Advertising and marketing Officer, Mike Quigley, required Wolfpack to take away references to Boys Membership and related feedback about sexism within the office from their presentation to Wolfpack members concerning the outcomes of the survey.” The group was additionally informed that they might not survey staffers with out approval from higher administration.
Niantic didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The lawsuit in opposition to Niantic is simply the newest authorized motion towards a serious gaming firm based mostly on allegations from feminine workers. The state of California sued Activision Blizzard in 2021 alleging that it fostered a tradition of “fixed sexual harassment,” whereas Riot Video games introduced that yr that it will pay $100 million to settle a gender discrimination lawsuit.
As a part of its latest layoffs, CEO John Hanke reiterated the corporate’s give attention to Pokémon Go, its cash cow. The corporate has struggled to search out its subsequent large hit, shutting down video games based mostly on Harry Potter, Catan, and, as of final week, its NBA recreation.
