Rockstar Games faces tribunal hearing as union continues to seek interim relief for fired workers

Grand Theft Auto developer Rockstar Games and the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB) clashed at a preliminary employment tribunal hearing this week, with the union requesting interim relief for over 30 former employees who were fired from the studio last year.

The details:

• Late last year, Rockstar dismissed more than 30 employees across its UK and Canada offices, citing "gross misconduct" as the reason for termination. However, the IWGB fired back at the claims, accusing the studio of union busting, revealing that those let go from the developer were members of the Game Workers Union channel on Discord and were active in union activities.
• A preliminary employment tribunal hearing commenced in Glasgow this week, where the IWGB is seeking interim relief that would reinstate the fired developers to Rockstar's payroll and provide them with work visas where necessary while it continues its lawsuit against the GTA developer. “We hope this week’s tribunal will grant urgently needed relief to the workers whose lives were turned upside down by Rockstar’s brutal union-busting, leaving them and their families without incomes, without secure futures, and in some cases without even the right to remain in the country they have made their home,” the IWGB said in a statement to IGN.
• Rockstar Games maintains it took action against employees who breached confidentiality agreements by discussing unreleased game features, including information related to upcoming titles, in an insecure public channel containing non-Rockstar employees and industry competitors. The company stated that some 25 non-Rockstar employees, including competitors' staff and a video game journalist, were members of the aforementioned Discord server, and that employees who supported the union action but did not breach confidentiality policies were not involved in the firings.