Cloud Imperium Games has been mandated to provide compensation to a former employee following a ruling in a disability discrimination lawsuit

An employment tribunal in the UK has ruled that Cloud Imperium Games must pay £27,748 in compensation to a former employee following a claim of discrimination regarding its office-return policy.

According to Game Developer, senior programmer Paul Ah-Thion was terminated in 2022 after his requests for a permanent remote work arrangement due to his disability were denied.

Ah-Thion had previously worked in the company's former Wilmslow office before employees were required to work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. When Cloud Imperium opened its Manchester studio in 2021, which now serves as its UK headquarters, it mandated employees to return to office work.

The tribunal reported that Ah-Thion’s request to continue working remotely instead of relocating to the new Manchester studio was rejected. Subsequently, he was let go due to "performance issues related to his remote working setup."

The tribunal concluded that Cloud Imperium's concerns about Ah-Thion's performance appeared "retrospective," noting that the company had not formally investigated these concerns while he was employed and did not provide evidence to explain why remote performance monitoring could not be successful.

The judgement stated, "There is no evidence that working from home would have failed to achieve the respondent's legitimate aim of ensuring the acceptable performance of a senior gameplay programmer."

The tribunal found that the company treated Ah-Thion unfavorably due to circumstances arising from his disability and could not justify that his dismissal was a proportionate method to achieve their legitimate goal.

GamesIndustry.biz has contacted Cloud Imperium for a statement.