Fired Rockstar staff will not receive pay until legal case is over, judge rules

A UK employment tribunal has ruled against providing interim pay to over 30 Rockstar Games employees who were dismissed late last year amid a lawsuit from Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain claiming that the developer is guilty of union busting. 

The details”

• Back in October 2025, Rockstar dismissed 34 employees across its UK and Canadian office, citing "gross misconduct" and claiming staff had discussed confidential information about its projects on a Discord server accessible to hundreds of people, including gaming journalists and employees from other companies. The IWGB denied these claims, accusing Rockstar of union busting, asserting that the server was used to discuss unionization.
• After it was confirmed by the IWGB that it was pushing for the impacted employees to receive salary payments during the ongoing legal battle, Judge Frances Eccles has ruled (via Bloomberg) during a preliminary hearing at Glasgow Employment Tribunal on January 12 that the fired employees must meet a high threshold to secure interim relief. According to the judge, the IWGB has failed to meet this standard despite arguments that the dismissals were retaliatory.
• In the ruling, it was noted that three of the dismissed employees were based in Canada and not part of the IWGB, complicating claims that union membership was the primary reason for termination. The judge also acknowledged that some employees who showed support for the union were not dismissed, and that several fired staff had posted "very little" on the Discord server in question.