A UK employment tribunal rejected a request from fired Rockstar Games employees to receive interim pay while waiting for a full hearing about their dismissal, according to Bloomberg and IGN. After Rockstar fired 34 employees last year โ 31 from the UK and three from Canada โ the Independent Workersโ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) accused the company of โunion busting.โ Rockstar claims that the fired employees were leaking company information in a Discord channel.
The hearing took place over two days last week. โDespite being refused interim relief today, weโve come out of last weekโs hearing more confident than ever that a full and substantive tribunal will find Rockstarโs calculated attempt to crush a union to be not only unjust but unlawful,โ IWGB president Alex Marshall says in a statement. โThe fact that we were granted this hearing speaks to the strength of our case and, over the course of the two-day hearing, Rockstar consistently failed to back up claims made in the press or to refute that they acted unfairly, maliciously, and in breach of their own procedures.โ
โWe 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,โ a Rockstar Games spokesperson says in statements to Bloomberg and IGN. Rockstar and owner Take-Two didnโt immediately reply to a request for comment.
Rockstar is working on Grand Theft Auto VI, which was recently delayed from a planned May launch to November 19th.
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