Andy “Reginald” Dinh is a former professional player of League of Legends and founder and owner of Team SoloMid. However, an insider report from the Washington Post painted a grim picture of him. He is said to insult employees and throw out people who ask tough questions. He has now been officially condemned by the developer Riot Games.
This is the situation:
- Reginald transformed a LoL fan site into one of the largest e-sports organizations in the world within 12 years. Team SoloMid is now not only active in LoL, but also in Valorant, DOTA 2, and CS:GO.
- Recently, however, key executives left the team and former LoL professional Doublelift accused Reginald at the end of 2021 of being responsible for TSM’s decline. He is a tyrant, who has belittled employees and players for years. Now, no one wants to work for him anymore. The allegations were also supported by an insider report from the Washington Post.
- In January, Riot Games initiated an investigation against Reginald. This has now concluded and there is a verdict that has been officially announced.
Fine, executive training, and a probation period of 2 years
What does the report say? Riot Games announced on their website that they had brought in an independent investigator to review the allegations by Doublelift. This investigator concluded that Andy “Reginald ” Dinh exhibited a pattern of derogatory and harassing behavior.
However, this behavior is said to have been limited to performance-related issues concerning players or employees and not related to gender, nationality, or sexual orientation. The report states:
It was also noted that he insulted professional players and TSM employees and made humiliating and derogatory remarks. Nearly all witnesses agreed that Dinh’s outbursts and insults generally were limited to the perceived performance of a player or employee.
None of the witnesses could recall a situation where Dinh’s insulting behavior targeted a protected group (race, gender, age, sexual orientation, sexual identity, etc.), and there were no reports of actual or threatened physical violence against a TSM player or employee.
What is the verdict?
- TSM must pay a fine of 75,000 euros. This is three times the amount of a single offense because there were multiple instances of insults by Reginald over the years. The money will be donated by Riot to an anti-bullying or mental health organization.
- Andy “Reginald” Dinh must undergo sensitivity training and executive training – within the next 60 days.
- Reginald will only work in the Riot ecosystem on probation for the next two years. Should there be any misconduct, further sanctions will follow.
TSM itself came to a similar conclusion in its own investigation. The team committed to sending all executives to coaching. Additionally, a hotline is to be established through which employees can complain anonymously. This will now be set up by Riot Games itself.
What do Reginald and TSM say? They have not publicly commented on the punishment so far. However, Riot Games reached a similar conclusion as TSM itself, so they will probably accept the punishment.
It is unclear whether former professional player Doublelift is satisfied with the outcome. He was already disappointed with the consequences TSM drew from its own investigation:
LoL: TSM boss allowed to stay, but must serve detention – His intimate enemy spews venom and gall
