Niantic is sued for gender and racial bias

The developer of Pokémon Go and Pikmin Bloom, Niantic, has been sued for gender and racial bias by a former employee who was let go as part of the company’s most recent round of layoffs.

A former Niantic employee filed a ‘sexual bias’ lawsuit against the Pokémon Go creator Niantic, claiming that the company underpaid female employees. The lawsuit was brought by an Asian woman named Jane Doe who began working at Niantic in 2020, according to the media outlet, Verge. She was reportedly laid off by the Pokemon Go developer last week as part of the company’s mass layoffs, which also saw the closing of its LA gaming studio and two of its titles—NBA All-World and Marvel: World of Heroes.

Gender and racial bias at Niantic

According to the lawsuit, the employee began working for the Pokemon Go developer in 2020 with a salary of $70,000 but was soon promoted in 2021. Although holding a higher-ranking position inside the company in 2022, she received only $105,000 per year compared to a male employee’s $127,000. Her salary increased to $115,000 somewhere in the spring of 2023, although it remained less than the $127,000 that the male Niantic employee reportedly made the previous year.

California has a law requiring companies with more than 15 employees to provide salary ranges in job advertising. According to the rule, Niantic disclosed the pay range, and Jane Doe discovered that her pay was $10,000 less than what was stated in the pay range. She was earning considerably less than the $126,000-to-$154,000 pay band threshold, but at the time at least one other male coworker was making more money while holding the same job. 

The employee claims that Niantic’s diversity, equality, and inclusion director and principal people partner as well as the company’s “male senior management” were hostile to her when she expressed her concerns to them. Additionally, the executives allegedly claimed that her discussions with coworkers about workplace issues had a negative impact on her performance evaluation. The lawsuit also alleges that Niantic promoted a “boys club” atmosphere at work, which disadvantaged and devalued women of color and female employees in general. 

This lawsuit against Niantic is the latest in a string of legal proceedings brought by female employees against well-known gaming companies including Activision, Blizzard, and Riot Game. Over the past few months, Niantic has been under fire for many problems and has faced harsh criticism from the gaming community. The company, however, won’t be able to brush off the lawsuit as easily as they did the complaints and concerns of fans regarding game development troubles.

Header: Niantic