The creators of Star Citizen were fined $35,000 for discriminating against an employee with autism
The British Employment Tribunal found Cloud Imperium Games guilty of discriminating against an employee. The studio fired a worker with autism after he requested permission to work from home.
Star Citizen
According to the Game Developer portal, which reviewed the case materials, the complaint against the studio was filed by senior programmer Paul Ah-Thion. He joined Cloud Imperium Games in 2018, immediately notifying the studio of his diagnosis. Initially, he worked in the office in Wilmslow, but during the COVID-19 pandemic, he switched to remote work with his colleagues. At that time, Ah-Thion realized that working from home better suited his needs. Therefore, when the studio required employees to return to the office, he requested permission to continue working remotely. Especially since he was being asked to go to the Manchester office, which is about 15 miles from the previous office. Cloud Imperium Games management denied his request and dismissed Ah-Thion in July 2022.
In court, Cloud Imperium Games claimed that the programmer did not perform well enough while working remotely. Additionally, they argued that he was unable to fulfill some duties from home, such as mentoring junior staff.
Now Cloud Imperium Games must pay Ah-Thion a compensation of £27,700 ($35,000).
