BioWare Edmonton is being sued by a group of former long-time employees for “shortchanging” them when it comes to severance in violation of legal standards. The developer is also accused of making it difficult for employees to find new jobs by preventing them from including their work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in their portfolios.
Why BioWare is being sued
According to a press release spotted by Kotaku’s Ethan Gach, seven of the 50 employees recently laid off by BioWare have banded together to take the company to court. According to them, their average length of service at BioWare is around 14 years and they were terminated without cause. In recent cases of terminations without cause, Alberta Courts have awarded those affected at least one month of severance per year of service, with full value of all benefits included.
BioWare has allegedly offered “significantly less” than the above alongside adding “illegal” provisions. Despite the employees’ attempts to negotiate, the company has refused to budge. What’s more is that BioWare is forcing those who have been made redundant to sign an NDA that prevents them from including their work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in their portfolios, which they say will make it significantly harder for them to find new jobs.
Now, the employees want courts to award them the full severance that they are due alongside punitive damages for “unreasonably poor treatment.”