The Pyjack's Den! The ME News Discussion Thread
Nov 7, 2023 14:38:36 GMT
Hrungr, Redlok, and 3 more like this
Post by Solas on Nov 7, 2023 14:38:36 GMT
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
More BioWare news: laid off devs suing for severance say the company is going to court instead of negotiating a settlement and call the process anything but "empathetic, respectful."
They call N7 day a reminder of "the importance of loyalty to your crew" [link]
Transcript:
“BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance
On August 23 of this year, BioWare eliminated “approximately 50 roles at BioWare”. Following the layoffs, seven ex-BioWare employees engaged the services of R. Alex Kennedy to represent their interests, stating that the amount of severance offered was insufficient under Alberta common law.
Counsel for the employees has attempted to reach a compromise that would avoid requiring lengthy court proceedings, but BioWare’s lawyers refused any offers to negotiate and settle out of court.
The basis of Kennedy’s claim is that according to Alberta precedents and under Canadian law, these employees should be receiving approximately 1.7 months of severance per year of service they gave to BioWare. BioWare has now filed a Statement of Defence, which argues that the seven terminated employees are only entitled to two weeks of severance per year spent in service to BioWare, because of a contract provision that Kennedy says is not enforceable.
The filing means BioWare will be taking these former employees to court rather than working towards finding an out of court resolution. The developers involved in the suit have expressed their disappointment:
* “We are disappointed that BioWare prefers stalling and intimidation tactics to fair dealing with people who have given years, and in some cases decades, of dedication and hard work to the company.”
* “We believe they are using intimidation and stalling tactics to try and get us to drop out. A lot of the more junior employees and those with families, who had more monetary pressure on them, could not risk waiting on a court case that may take many months more to resolve, and have already had to drop out.”
* “At the time of the layoffs, BioWare offered us professional assistance in finding new employment, and an additional payment, but ONLY on the condition that we signed an agreement saying we cannot talk about any details of the settlement, and that we would completely waive any right to legal action or even to complain in any way about anyone associated with BioWare now or ever in the future. Tactics like that sure make me think that BioWare knows it is in the wrong.”
* “Despite what they publicly announced when they laid us off, this process has been anything but empathetic, respectful, and communicative.”
The latest BioWare layoffs were the third round so far this year, and many of the developers affected even in earlier rounds are still searching for work, though some have started to find new positions. Regardless of employment status, the members of the current lawsuit state they remain determined to pursue BioWare in court, regardless of their employment status:
* “We strongly believe that if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf does not do as well as BioWare or EA wants at launch, there will be more, even larger layoffs. Therefore, regardless of our own well-being, we believe it is important to hold BioWare responsible and get a clear decision on what settlement amount is legal. We’re no longer part of the development team, so the best way we can help our former teammates now is to hold BioWare accountable and ensure that the next group who is laid off are not treated as poorly as we were.”
November 7th marks “N7 Day”, which is a fan celebration of BioWare’s Mass Effect games featuring Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy. The developers involved in the lawsuit are hoping N7 Day this year will be a reminder to BioWare of the importance of loyalty to your crew, and hope fans can have a little fun and help express their support with memes and images using an #N7SeveranceDay hashtag.
The ex-employees involved in the suit are all based in Canada and have an average of 14 years at BioWare.”"
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
EA's net income was $400 million last quarter, up 33% year over year.
The max requested settlement is about 1% of that.
Jon Renish @jonrenish
twitter.com/N7SeveranceDay
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday "Account supporting BioWare employees laid off in 2023."
We love #MassEffect, but this #N7Day, we'd also like to remind #BioWare of the importance of treating your crew right. So join us in having a little fun with #N7SeveranceDay while expressing support for all the folks #BioWare laid off this year... (1/2)
(2/2) ... grab yourself a meme template (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator) or have some fun generating terrible AI images* (https://bing.com/images/create/) and use the #N7SeveranceDay hashtag to share your best creations!
* EDI would like to note: no actual AI is involved in this process.
In a separate issue from the direct employees of #BioWare who were laid off this year, the company ALSO chose not to renew their contract with QA outsource company Keywords Studios.
Keywords staff will picket in front of the BioWare offices tomorrow:
Nicole Carpenter @sweetpotatoes Polygon
The Keywords Studios QA workers, who worked on Dragon Age: Dread Wolf, laid off in October will picket outside BioWare's Edmonton offices on Nov. 7. Per @rbryant2012 BioWare/EA tried to block the office picket, but the labor board denied that request. [link]
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
This #N7Day, remember to treat your crew right! #N7SeveranceDay
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
As we understand it: the contract QA folks were in the process of negotiating a union contract when Keywords told them they'd been unable to come to an agreement with BioWare to extend their contract, so they were "laid off for lack of work". HOWEVER... (1/3)
...other QA workers were then brought into BioWare to cover their roles, and the Keywords folks were told to train them before leaving - so the work was clearly still there. They believe it was an intentional move on BioWare's part to replace unionized workers ...(2/3)
..and believe if they hadn’t unionized they would still be working at BioWare. Though Keywords were also stalling negotiations too. BioWare attempted legal action to prevent them from picketing. (This account is only relaying this info and cannot confirm details directly.) (3/3)
Socials for the Keywords group who will be picketing:
Twitch - Link:
YT - Link: youtube.com/channel/UCoke6JbV3MXm_oU549TzZ8g
IG - Link: instagram.com/fp4gw/
X - Link: https: twitter.com/FP4GW
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
Note: while this account is using AI generated art to make a joke and a quick point, we recognize there are a plethora of ethical issues with using AI art. We do not support using it widely and suggest reading up on the issues surrounding it, e.g.: news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/08/is-art-generated-by-artificial-intelligence-real-art/
(We do, however, rather enjoy the irony of using AI art to support the cause of artists (and others) who were laid off due to being no longer needed. 🤔 )
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
#N7SeveranceDay feels #N7Day
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
Statement from EA on BioWare picket tomorrow:
Transcript of this statement: "We hope that Keywords and the union are able to resolve their differences but ultimately BioWare has no role in that process. It is our view that any activities targeting our offices are misguided as BioWare is not involved in any way in the negotiations and Epcor Tower has never been a place of employment for Keywords employees.”"
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
Prior to unionizing, the testers were being told they'd have to start working in person at BioWare's Edmonton studio.
More BioWare news: laid off devs suing for severance say the company is going to court instead of negotiating a settlement and call the process anything but "empathetic, respectful."
They call N7 day a reminder of "the importance of loyalty to your crew" [link]
Transcript:
“BioWare Continues to Refuse to Pay Severance
On August 23 of this year, BioWare eliminated “approximately 50 roles at BioWare”. Following the layoffs, seven ex-BioWare employees engaged the services of R. Alex Kennedy to represent their interests, stating that the amount of severance offered was insufficient under Alberta common law.
Counsel for the employees has attempted to reach a compromise that would avoid requiring lengthy court proceedings, but BioWare’s lawyers refused any offers to negotiate and settle out of court.
The basis of Kennedy’s claim is that according to Alberta precedents and under Canadian law, these employees should be receiving approximately 1.7 months of severance per year of service they gave to BioWare. BioWare has now filed a Statement of Defence, which argues that the seven terminated employees are only entitled to two weeks of severance per year spent in service to BioWare, because of a contract provision that Kennedy says is not enforceable.
The filing means BioWare will be taking these former employees to court rather than working towards finding an out of court resolution. The developers involved in the suit have expressed their disappointment:
* “We are disappointed that BioWare prefers stalling and intimidation tactics to fair dealing with people who have given years, and in some cases decades, of dedication and hard work to the company.”
* “We believe they are using intimidation and stalling tactics to try and get us to drop out. A lot of the more junior employees and those with families, who had more monetary pressure on them, could not risk waiting on a court case that may take many months more to resolve, and have already had to drop out.”
* “At the time of the layoffs, BioWare offered us professional assistance in finding new employment, and an additional payment, but ONLY on the condition that we signed an agreement saying we cannot talk about any details of the settlement, and that we would completely waive any right to legal action or even to complain in any way about anyone associated with BioWare now or ever in the future. Tactics like that sure make me think that BioWare knows it is in the wrong.”
* “Despite what they publicly announced when they laid us off, this process has been anything but empathetic, respectful, and communicative.”
The latest BioWare layoffs were the third round so far this year, and many of the developers affected even in earlier rounds are still searching for work, though some have started to find new positions. Regardless of employment status, the members of the current lawsuit state they remain determined to pursue BioWare in court, regardless of their employment status:
* “We strongly believe that if Dragon Age: Dreadwolf does not do as well as BioWare or EA wants at launch, there will be more, even larger layoffs. Therefore, regardless of our own well-being, we believe it is important to hold BioWare responsible and get a clear decision on what settlement amount is legal. We’re no longer part of the development team, so the best way we can help our former teammates now is to hold BioWare accountable and ensure that the next group who is laid off are not treated as poorly as we were.”
November 7th marks “N7 Day”, which is a fan celebration of BioWare’s Mass Effect games featuring Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy. The developers involved in the lawsuit are hoping N7 Day this year will be a reminder to BioWare of the importance of loyalty to your crew, and hope fans can have a little fun and help express their support with memes and images using an #N7SeveranceDay hashtag.
The ex-employees involved in the suit are all based in Canada and have an average of 14 years at BioWare.”"
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
EA's net income was $400 million last quarter, up 33% year over year.
The max requested settlement is about 1% of that.
Jon Renish @jonrenish
twitter.com/N7SeveranceDay
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday "Account supporting BioWare employees laid off in 2023."
We love #MassEffect, but this #N7Day, we'd also like to remind #BioWare of the importance of treating your crew right. So join us in having a little fun with #N7SeveranceDay while expressing support for all the folks #BioWare laid off this year... (1/2)
(2/2) ... grab yourself a meme template (https://imgflip.com/memegenerator) or have some fun generating terrible AI images* (https://bing.com/images/create/) and use the #N7SeveranceDay hashtag to share your best creations!
* EDI would like to note: no actual AI is involved in this process.
In a separate issue from the direct employees of #BioWare who were laid off this year, the company ALSO chose not to renew their contract with QA outsource company Keywords Studios.
Keywords staff will picket in front of the BioWare offices tomorrow:
Nicole Carpenter @sweetpotatoes Polygon
The Keywords Studios QA workers, who worked on Dragon Age: Dread Wolf, laid off in October will picket outside BioWare's Edmonton offices on Nov. 7. Per @rbryant2012 BioWare/EA tried to block the office picket, but the labor board denied that request. [link]
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
This #N7Day, remember to treat your crew right! #N7SeveranceDay
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
As we understand it: the contract QA folks were in the process of negotiating a union contract when Keywords told them they'd been unable to come to an agreement with BioWare to extend their contract, so they were "laid off for lack of work". HOWEVER... (1/3)
...other QA workers were then brought into BioWare to cover their roles, and the Keywords folks were told to train them before leaving - so the work was clearly still there. They believe it was an intentional move on BioWare's part to replace unionized workers ...(2/3)
..and believe if they hadn’t unionized they would still be working at BioWare. Though Keywords were also stalling negotiations too. BioWare attempted legal action to prevent them from picketing. (This account is only relaying this info and cannot confirm details directly.) (3/3)
Socials for the Keywords group who will be picketing:
Twitch - Link:
YT - Link: youtube.com/channel/UCoke6JbV3MXm_oU549TzZ8g
IG - Link: instagram.com/fp4gw/
X - Link: https: twitter.com/FP4GW
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
Note: while this account is using AI generated art to make a joke and a quick point, we recognize there are a plethora of ethical issues with using AI art. We do not support using it widely and suggest reading up on the issues surrounding it, e.g.: news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2023/08/is-art-generated-by-artificial-intelligence-real-art/
(We do, however, rather enjoy the irony of using AI art to support the cause of artists (and others) who were laid off due to being no longer needed. 🤔 )
N7SeveranceDay @n7severanceday
#N7SeveranceDay feels #N7Day
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
Statement from EA on BioWare picket tomorrow:
Transcript of this statement: "We hope that Keywords and the union are able to resolve their differences but ultimately BioWare has no role in that process. It is our view that any activities targeting our offices are misguided as BioWare is not involved in any way in the negotiations and Epcor Tower has never been a place of employment for Keywords employees.”"
AmericanTruckSongs9 @ethangach Kotaku
Prior to unionizing, the testers were being told they'd have to start working in person at BioWare's Edmonton studio.
