Rockstar worker in Britain claims ‘watch list’ after petition
In Glasgow, United Kingdom, an employment tribunal is considering whether Rockstar Games lawfully dismissed 31 employees in Scotland. One of those dismissed, Dane Oram, said that after a 2023 petition on remote work, the company, in his view, began monitoring some employees.
As The Guardian reports, Oram believes that the list of petition signatories may have been linked to subsequent dismissals in 2025. Rockstar Games representative Thomas Cordry noted that 141 of the 154 employees who signed the petition were not dismissed.
The parties’ positions
Rockstar Games denies that the dismissals were connected to trade union membership or activity. The company said that employees in the United Kingdom and Canada were dismissed for gross misconduct after confidential corporate information was shared.
A significant part of the hearing concerns messages on a Discord forum used by around 300 Rockstar employees. Oram helped create the forum and was one of its moderators. According to the company, confidential information was shared and discussed in that community.
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Cordry read out the forum rules, which required participants to communicate professionally and constructively, and said they were systematically breached. Oram acknowledged that discussions could sometimes get out of hand and that he might have made some moderation decisions differently.
Proceedings
Last year, Rockstar Games dismissed a total of 34 employees, including three in Canada who are not participating in the hearing. Of the 31 employees dismissed in Scotland, 23 have joined the case. They are represented by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain.
The hearing, chaired by Judge Lucy Wiseman, is expected to last about six weeks. Testimony from Rockstar Games representatives is due to be heard in October.
The dismissed employees took part in the development of Grand Theft Auto VI. The game’s release is scheduled for November 19, while production is led by the Edinburgh-based Rockstar North studio.
