Staff at Rockstar North, the developer behind the Grand Theft Auto series, were allegedly placed on a ‘watch list’ after signing a petition concerning remote working policies, an employment tribunal has heard. A group of former employees are claiming they were unfairly dismissed for trade union activities, with one former worker testifying that the company monitored employees.

Approximately 34 individuals are believed to have been dismissed in October of last year, leading 23 of them to file lawsuits against the company. These former employees are being represented by the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain. Rockstar has stated it will contest the tribunal vigorously, accusing the former employees of breaching confidentiality rules by discussing sensitive information on a Discord server.

The tribunal heard that around 150 Rockstar employees, not all of whom were union members, signed a petition in the spring of 2023 regarding a return-to-office mandate. Dayne Oram, one of the dismissed workers testifying at the tribunal, indicated that signing the petition was not the sole reason for dismissal but was connected to other activities.

"I believe this forms the basis of a watch list of people to keep an eye on for further activities," Oram stated, suggesting it was a starting point for monitoring employees engaged in activities considered ‘distasteful’ by the company. Oram also testified to being involved in setting up a Discord server used by approximately 300 Rockstar employees as a forum to discuss the company.

During the tribunal, Rockstar's representative, Thomas Cordrey, questioned Oram about the Discord server, citing numerous posts where employees were allegedly ‘venting’ or making disparaging remarks, sometimes using offensive language. Cordrey suggested that rules for moderators, asking users to be ‘professional and constructive,’ were routinely broken. Oram described the rules as more of a ‘guiding principle’ and stated that moderators aimed to avoid ‘over policing’ the chat.

Rockstar Games has countered these claims, asserting that the workers were dismissed for ‘gross misconduct’ due to the sharing of confidential company information, not for trade union activity. A spokesperson for the company stated,