Bioware laid off about 50 employees at the end of August this year, and joined what feels like the rest of the industry in laying off developers.In Bioware’s case, manager Gary McKay claimed that the move to a smaller team will “unlock more creativity” for work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, as if having more people working together on something ever harmed the creativity of the project.Now, seven of those former employees have sued Bioware for better severance pay, alleging that Bioware is paying them “significantly less” than the amount generally granted in Alberta for being terminated without cause.According to the plaintiffs and Worobec Law, who is representing the former employees, “BioWare attempted to reduce its obligations to these employees well below what the courts typically award, including by eliminating benefits from its termination pay – that appears to be contrary to the Employment Standards Code.”The amount typically granted for being terminated without cause in Alberta is a month of severance pay per year the employee worked at the company, and the “full value of all benefits included.”Legal counsel R.Alex Kennedy also added “These people are artists and creators who have worked very hard and for a very long time in a difficult industry, producing big profits for their employer.Their termination without cause en masse like this calls for a response. Employers here can terminated anyone at any time without cause, but with that right comes a responsibility to the people they put in that situation.”One of the former employees suing Bioware also pointed out “In light of the numerous recent industry layoffs and the fact that BioWare’s NDAs prevent us from showing any of our recent work on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in our portfolios, we are very concerned about the difficulty many of us will have finding work as the holiday season approaches.”Source – [GamesIndustry.Biz]
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