As the 31 UK-based employees fired by Rockstar Games back in November have begun to pursue legal action, an employment tribunal in the country has denied their request for interim pay. According to Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier, the former Rockstar Games employees were working with the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) to pursue legal action against the studio, alleging that they were fired for attempts to unionize.
Judge Frances Eccles has denied their request on the grounds of them not being able to demonstrate a “pretty good chance of success” at being able to persuade the court that Rockstar Games had engaged in union busting. This decision is also noted as setting a higher bar for interim rulings than it would be in the final hearing.
A Rockstar Games spokesperson reaffirmed the studio’s decision to have fired the employees. “We regret that we were put in a position where dismissals were necessary, but we stand by our course of action as supported by the outcome of this hearing,” they said.
Discussing the Discord server where the employees were discussing efforts to unionize, judge Eccles agreed that some of the fired employees had “posted very little on the Discord server.” He also went on to acknowledge that the server had 350 members, some of whom were no longer working with the studio. “In all the circumstances, the tribunal was unable to conclude that it appears likely that the tribunal will find that the principal reason for the claimants’ dismissal was their membership of the IWGB,” wrote the judge about the decision.
In response, IWGB president Alex Marshall has expressed optimism about the full tribunal. Despite the interim decision having gone against the employees, he said that, “we’ve come out of last week’s hearing more confident than ever that a full and substantive tribunal will find Rockstar’s calculated attempt to crush a union to be not only unjust but unlawful.”
The tribunal’s decision comes just a month after UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer had said that the country’s ministers would be investigating Rockstar Games for its alleged union busting activities.
“It’s a deeply concerning case,” Starmer said in response to UK MP Chris Murray bringing up the firing of the employees. “Every worker has the right to join a trade union and we’re determined to strengthen workers rights and ensure they don’t face unfair consequences for being part of a union. Our ministers will look into the particular case that he [Murray] raises and will keep him updated.”
In response, the studio released its own statement where it vehemently denied that it was engaging in union busting activities. Rather, the studio said that the employees in question were fired for having “distributed and discussed confidential information in a public forum,” which it said breached company policy.
“Rockstar Games took action against a small group of individuals, across the UK and internationally, who distributed and discussed confidential information (including specific game features from upcoming and unannounced titles) in a public forum, in breach of company policy and their legal obligations. Claims that these dismissals were linked to union membership or activities are entirely false and misleading,” said a spokesperson for the studio.