A UK employment tribunal has ordered Cloud Imperium Games to pay £27,748 in compensation to a former employee following a discrimination lawsuit over its return to the office policy.
Senior programmer Paul Ah Tiong was laid off in 2022 after his request to work from home permanently to accommodate a disability was denied, Game Developer reported.
Ah Tiong worked out of Cloud Imperium’s old offices in Wilmslow before the company required employees to work from home during the pandemic. In 2021, CIG opened its Manchester studio (now its UK headquarters) and required staff to return to the office.
The tribunal heard that Ah Siong’s request to continue working remotely rather than relocating to the Manchester studio was rejected, and he was subsequently fired due to “performance issues relating to the remote working environment”.
The court found that Cloud Imperium’s “concerns about Plaintiff’s performance were not based on the fact that Plaintiff was employed [Cloud Imperium] “The department has never formally investigated these concerns, nor has it provided any evidence to show why they could not be remotely monitored while working from home.”
The ruling further stated that “there is no evidence that working from home would have frustrated Defendant’s legitimate objective of ensuring acceptable performance as a senior gameplay programmer.”
“we [Cloud Imperium] Treated the plaintiff less favourably for any reason arising as a result of his disability. [It has] “They have failed to demonstrate that dismissal was a proper means to achieve a legitimate aim.”
GamesIndustry.biz has reached out to Cloud Imperium for comment.