It seems that Rockstar Games and Take-Two have gotten off scot-free, as a ruling has been issued in their favor.

A British judge rejected a request for temporary pay from 31 former Rockstar employees. Together with their union representative, the Independent Workers of Great Britain (IWGB), the employees are fighting their dismissal and accusing Rockstar of anti-union behavior. Had the request for interim pay been granted, Rockstar would have been required to put the employees back on the payroll while the legal battle continued.

According to Bloomberg, Judge Frances Eccles ruled that the IWGB and the dismissed employees had failed to demonstrate a reasonable likelihood of success in convincing the court of Rockstar’s alleged anti-union conduct after a two-day hearing last week. Eccles wrote that based on the totality of the circumstances, the court could not determine that it was likely to find that the plaintiffs’ dismissal was primarily due to their IWGB membership.

In his ruling, Eccles also points out that there were other members of the organization on the server who were not dismissed, although Judge Eccles also noted as an argument against Rockstar that some of the dismissed employees were dismissed despite posting very little on the Discord server in question. Rockstar expresses regret that it was forced into a situation where dismissals were necessary, but based on the outcome of the trial, it stands by its decision. Meanwhile, on the other side, the IWGB is more confident than ever that a full and proper court case will find Rockstar’s deliberate attempt to break the union not only unfair but also unlawful.

Rockstar’s downsizing first appeared in the news in October, and we have reported regularly on developments related to it. It is possible that the IWGB will pursue this matter further.

Source: WCCFTech, Bloomberg