Tom RichardsonBBC Newsbeat
bbcA judge has denied salary compensation to a group of employees fired by the creators of Grand Theft Auto (GTA).
Rockstar Games has fired employees at its UK studios for serious misconduct, accusing them of sharing sensitive information on a public server on chat app Discord.
The workers, who say they lost their jobs for trying to unionize, took legal action against the company and requested provisional measures, meaning they would continue to be paid until the case is concluded.
But a Glasgow court said it could not grant the relief – known as an interim relief – because it could not be sure the case would be successful when it came to a full hearing.
Following a hearing last week, a ruling was issued outlining the arguments presented and the reasons for rejecting the claim.
Judge Frances Eccles said the claim involved 29 employees at Rockstar’s UK offices in Edinburgh, Dundee and Lincoln, all of them members of the games workers branch of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB).
It said staff were dismissed on October 30 and 31 last year and told they had shared confidential information on a publicly accessible platform in breach of their contracts.
About 350 people, including former employees, had access to the IWGB Discord server, similar to a web forum, which contains open and closed channels limited to union members, according to the ruling.
He said staff were “informed of their dismissals with little or no notice and in rapid succession” without suspensions, disciplinary hearings or the opportunity to respond to the allegations before being dismissed.
The court said some of those fired from the company had posted few messages on the server or, in some cases, had last posted them more than a year ago.
“There was no evidence that the defendant had suffered any adverse consequences as a result of these publications,” the judge said.
Staff were also not informed of the comments considered serious misconduct until approximately six weeks after their dismissal, he added.
IWGBHowever, the judge said it was not possible to conclude whether union membership was the “main reason” for the workers’ dismissal.
The ruling said the company denied knowing whether Discord members were paid union members and that it also fired three Canadian employees who were not part of the IWGB.
Rockstar’s lawyers had stated that “matters of urgency and ongoing confidentiality concerns” were factors in the speed of the layoffs, according to the ruling.
The interim measures hearing was held before a full court convened, which will hear evidence from both sides at a later date.
“Whether the defendant’s reason and/or explanation withstands scrutiny at the final hearing may determine whether the plaintiffs are ultimately successful in their claims,” Eccles wrote.
rock star gamesResponding to the verdict, IWGB president Alex Marshall said securing interim relief was an “incredibly high bar” to surpass.
He said the union had emerged from the hearing “more confident than ever that a full and substantial court will find Rockstar’s calculated attempt to crush a union not only unfair, but also illegal.”
A Rockstar spokesperson said the company “welcomed the decision”, which was consistent with Rockstar’s position throughout.
“We regret that we were put in a position where layoffs were necessary, but we maintain our course of action supported by the outcome of this hearing,” they said.
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