Riot opens investigation against TSM Reginald amid bullying and abuse allegations

The start of the LCS' 2022 Season is fast approaching now that the ten franchise teams have announced their rosters ahead of the first tournament of the new year. Unfortunately, veteran esports team TSM will start on the wrong foot amid a plague of problems involving a key member within the organisation.

According to reports by WIRED, CEO and co-founder of the North American multi-champion team, Andy "Reginald" Dinh, is now involved in a challenging situation as Riot has initiated an investigation into a series of allegations of verbal abuse and bullying pitted against him.

The reports extend to both the organisation's employees and some of the team's players, who in recent months have disclosed some of the unethical behaviour and actions the TSM CEO has taken towards them, ranging from verbal assaults to attempts of ridiculing his employees for hours.

"A normal boss who thought you were doing a bad job would give you feedback. [At TSM], it was like, 'This is trash' or 'You're awful,' " said a current employee who wished to remain anonymous. Further, the source stated Dinh made somebody cry at least every other week.

Followingly, Riot announced they opened a full investigation in late 2021 in response to comments made by Yiliang "Doublelift" Peng during a Twitch live stream regarding Dinh verbally assaulting multiple familiar faces within the North American competitive scene.

Riot affirmed they have engaged with the law firm of O'Melveny & Myers LLP "to conduct an independent investigation into claims of misconduct made against the leader of this team, per the standard league process."

Likewise, TSM revealed that as part of their efforts to avoid these behaviours, they created an "independent subcommittee" and enlisted outside legal counsel and an independent investigator.

Dinh has agreed to cooperate with Riot and TSM during their respective investigations.

Dinh also acknowledged that he "needs to work on his delivery." However, the TSM CEO further added that he sets "exceedingly high expectations for himself" and "shares those same high expectations with everyone" he works with, "with zero tolerance for underperformance."

"I am intense, passionate, driven, and relentless in the pursuit of winning- it's my nature, [but] my vocabulary was at times too harsh and ineffective. I am working to improve the way I communicate with my team and those around me," added Dinh, without clarifying further action undertaken to improve his dialogue with employees in the future.

At the moment, both TSM and Riot are expected to release the findings of their investigations in the next few weeks, as their League of Legends squad prepares for their upcoming LCS Lock-In debut against 100 Thieves on 14th January.

• Read more: Worlds 2022 matches to be played in Mexico, Canada, and the US

Don't forget to check out our League of Legends dedicated section for more news, guides, updates, and esports coverage.

Featured image courtesy of TSM.