Overview
- After a two-day hearing, Judge Frances Eccles denied interim pay and reinstatement, finding it unlikely the firings were primarily due to IWGB membership.
- The ruling means no temporary return to payroll or visa reinstatement while the full tribunal case proceeds under a stricter likelihood-of-success standard.
- Eccles noted the organizing Discord had roughly 350 members, including former employees and a journalist, and that some organizers were not dismissed while some dismissed had posted little.
- Rockstar welcomed the decision and maintained the dismissals were for leaking confidential information, while the IWGB disputed that rationale and vowed to press on to a full hearing.
- Rockstar dismissed 34 workers in late October 2025, prompting protests, an open letter signed by over 200 Rockstar North employees, and scrutiny in the UK Parliament including comments from Prime Minister Keir Starmer.