Months of investigation on bullying and toxic work culture lead to fine and probation for TSM owner in all Riot Games ecosystem with training and independent monitoring to follow.
CEO and founder of TSM FTX, Andy "Reginald" Dinh has been fined $75,000; and put on two-year probation following an investigation from the League of Legends Championship Series(LCS).
Based upon the conclusions we drew from the reporting of our independent investigators, we believe that there was a pattern and practice of disparaging and bullying behavior exhibited by Reginald.
The two-year probation will not be for only the LCS but stretch across the Riot ecosystem. Furthermore, the "disparaging behaviour" as explained by Riot included verbal abuse of pro players; and communication with staff in a belittling and demeaning manner.
Reginald faced public allegations from Yiliang "Peter" Peng back in November 2021 for bullying and insulting members of his staff. After these allegations, more individuals associated with the organization brought similar complaints forward through the NA LCS Player Association.
The investigation involved 14 persons including the TSM CEO himself. It also included some interviews with the current TSM employees for efficiency sake.
Mandatory Executive and Sensitivity Training for TSM CEO Reginald
The ruling from Riot shows that Reginald violated two rules of the LCS guidelines pertaining to profanity, hate speech and harassment. Riot decided to give him three times the maximum fine for violating the rules due to a long pattern of abuse. Asides from the fine and probation, TSM must show within 60 days that Andy completed sensitivity and executive training.
Both training requirements should be under a third party with no ties to the organization. The training will focus on ensuring Andy learns better ways to provide feedback to TSM staff and players.
Moreover, Riot will appoint an independent monitor to operate a tip line throughout Andy's probation to ensure he complies with the rules. All TSM players will be able to anonymously report any abusive conduct from Dinh through the tip line.
Reaction from LCS Player Association
The LCSPA who took part in the investigation highlighted the importance of the ruling for the game.
"Today marks a milestone in the LCS, the LCSPA said. Never before has an association of esports players called for an independent misconduct investigation. Never before has a developer conducted such an investigation with collaboration from a PA. And never before have outcomes been imposed on a partner team that pointed towards real change to a toxic workplace."
"And never before have outcomes been imposed on a partner team that pointed towards real change to a toxic workplace."
Additionally, the independent monitor will check in with current TSM League of Legends players through the LCSPA for any rule violations report.