A judge has denied the request for interim relief filed by former employees of Rockstar Games who were dismissed.

Employees dismissed by Rockstar have seen their request for interim relief denied by the Glasgow Employment Tribunal.

IGN and Bloomberg report that the company claimed the staff were terminated due to unauthorized revelations about Grand Theft Auto 6 in a Discord group, and not because of union affiliation. This claim was filed by the Independent Workers' Union of Great Britain (IWGB).

Judge Frances Eccles, in a decision that was referenced by Gamesindustry.biz, noted that there wasn't sufficient indication that union membership was the main reason for the terminations.

Eccles pointed out that three of those dismissed were based in Canada and not affiliated with IWGB, thus union membership was not a dismissal factor for them.

The judgment noted that some employees linked to IWGB through a committee openly supported the union on Discord but were not let go.

The judge remarked that certain employees were terminated despite minimal activity on Discord, while others had not posted there in over a year.

It was highlighted by Eccles that the dismissals were communicated with almost no forewarning, and no suspensions or opportunities to address the allegations were provided before the decisions were finalized. Furthermore, the remarks leading to the dismissals were acquired via undisclosed monitoring of employees on Discord.

Should interim relief have been granted, it would have allowed those affected to be rehired temporarily by Rockstar until a full trial occurred.

The IWGB Discord server involved contained around 350 participants, with a majority being unionized. Among the members were ex-Rockstar staff and a journalist familiar with the Grand Theft Auto development. Comments Rockstar cited as gross misconduct were reportedly in the server's general discussions.

According to IGN, the legal team for the former employees argued through Lord John Hendy KC that no actual leaks happened, only a potential for leaks was noted.

Rockstar reacted positively to the ruling, stating it aligned with their standpoint and acknowledged the necessity of the dismissals.

The IWGB exhibited discontent regarding the outcome but kept a hopeful outlook towards future proceedings, believing the defense presented by Rockstar was weak.

The ruling highlighted there was no harm done to Rockstar from the remarks shared in Discord.

In November 2025, IWGB had accused Rockstar of actions against union activities due to the dismissal of 34 employees, a claim Rockstar refuted, maintaining the terminations were over the leakage of confidential details.

Further investigations indicated that the terminations could be linked to conversations around changes in Rockstar's internal communication policies that occurred in a private Discord channel.