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Tribunal finds Cloud Imperium Games discriminated against disabled employee with return-to-office policy

A UK employment tribunal has ordered Star Citizen developer Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) to pay almost £30,000 ($38,000) in compensation for discriminating against a disabled worker.

The studio was taken to tribunal by senior programmer Paul Ah-Thion (the claimant) after rolling out a return-to-office policy that failed to accommodate his needs as a disabled person diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The claimant was hired by CIG in 2018 and made the company aware of his disability at the beginning of his tenure. Although he initially worked from the company's office in Wilmslow, the COVID-19 pandemic required staff to work remotely.

As noted in the Tribunal Judgement sent to Game Developer, upon emerging from the pandemic, the studio opened a new office in Manchester and sought to relocate its workforce. However, during the pandemic, Ah-Thion found working from home to be more accommodating of his disabilities.

Rather than move to the Manchester office, the claimant asked CIG for a permanent remote working arrangement. The request was swiftly denied. CIG refused to change its stance despite repeat requests and eventually dismissed Ah-Thion in July 2022.

During the tribunal, CIG branded itself as a "start-up" enterprise—despite boasting over 400 employees—and attempted to argue the claimant had suffered from performance issues related to his remote working setup. It also claimed he was unable to meet certain job criteria, such as mentoring junior staffers, when working remotely.

The tribunal, however, found "there was no specific issue with the claimant's performance in relation to working from home as opposed to his performance generally." A witness for CIG stated the company was taking a "tougher" stance on working from home, but despite the alleged issues with the claimant's performance, never formally asked him to return to the office.

"The Tribunal finds that the respondent's concern about the claimant's performance seemed rather retrospective in the sense that whilst the claimant was employed the respondent never formally investigated those concerns," reads the judgment.

"The Tribunal finds that if the respondent had a serious concern about the claimant's performance they failed to give any evidence to suggest why they could not monitor it successfully remotely whilst he was working from home. Normal performance measures, such as performance targets and regular review meetings, could have been dealt with online."

Taking those points into consideration, along with the claimant's admission that working in-office often left him "exhausted and distressed," the tribunal found that CIG could have made the "reasonable adjustment" of allowing Ah-Thion to work from home permanently. In refusing to do so, the studio was found to have acted in a discriminatory and disproportionate manner.

"The Tribunal finds the respondent cannot satisfy us that terminating the claimant's employment was proportionate. We rely on the fact we have found that working from home was a reasonable adjustment which would have alleviated the substantial disadvantage to the claimant. There is no evidence that working from home would have failed to achieve the respondent’s legitimate aim of ensuring the acceptable performance of a senior gameplay programmer," reads the judgment.

"We find there was a failure of the respondent to understand the nature of the claimant’s autism. It was a condition of his autism that he struggled with his duties to act as a coach, reviewer and mentor to the junior members of the team. The evidence shows that the claimant was struggling to do this when he worked in the office. […] We find that the respondent has treated the claimant unfavorably because of something arising in consequence of his disability Come from Lodigame777 . They have been unable to show that dismissal was a proportionate means of achieving the legitimate aim and accordingly the claimant's claim succeeds."

CIG has been ordered to pay the claimant £27,748 in compensation. That includes loss of earnings totaling £14,045.31 and £12,000 for injury to feelings.

"Employers should be careful of mistaking a disability for weakness"

Speaking to Game Developer, Ah-Thion said he remains proud of his work at CIG and described many of his colleagues as "great people." He also, however, told us the experience was soured during his last nine months at the studio, where he was "shocked to see how ready CIG management were to ignore my disability and gaslight me about my work."

Ah-Thion said he feels "vindicated" following the outcome of the tribunal. "I've been fighting this by myself for two years, and being autistic made the whole process especially challenging. But we're lucky to have the employment tribunal system, where an ordinary person can actually find justice without having to bankrupt themselves on legal fees," he continued.

"It was clear to me from the start that CIG didn't want people to work from home after the expense of their new Manchester office, and worked backwards from that to retroactively conjure up reasons why my request should be denied, something they continued to do right up until the final tribunal hearing—all while ignoring disability legislation. It was gratifying that the tribunal saw through them as easily as they did."

He also suggested that some employers might have a "tick-box mentality" when it comes to accommodating disabled workers, "where sending a manager on a two-hour course about a disability is all they need to do."

"In reality, each disabled worker is different, and the simplest and best course is to talk to them, ideally on a semi-regular basis and outside the normal performance review process—and employers should be careful of mistaking a disability for weakness," he added.

Game Developer reached out to Kuits employment solicitor Jake McManus to learn how employers in England and Wales can support disabled workers, and how those with disabilities can hold employers to account.

He explained employers have a "legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments in the workplace for disabled workers," and said they must refrain from using a "blanket one-size-fits all" approach when identifying which adjustments should be made.

"They should tailor the adjustments to that individual and their specific needs. Employers should monitor these adjustments to make sure that they are working and the employee continues to be supported, and be flexible with making further adjustments if required," said McManus.

"This can be difficult with invisible disabilities such as autism, as it may not be immediately apparent how a condition affects the employee at work, or whether they have a disability in the first place. However, employers cannot rely on ignorance: if there are indications that an employee may be disabled then they should take steps to investigate it further. An Employment Tribunal will not be afraid to hold an employer liable if they reasonably ought to have known of the disability and did not carry out the necessary investigations, which would have ultimately revealed the disability."

McManus' advice for workers is to inform employers of their disability when they commence employment. This ensures an employer will have no doubt as to their legal obligations. "If an employee believes that they are being treated less fairly than other colleagues because of their disability, or because of something that is a consequence of their disability, then they should bring this to their employer's attention so that it can be addressed," he continued.

"Employees should be aware that any workplace policy or procedure that leaves them at a disadvantage compared to other, non-disabled employees, could be discriminatory. In this case, the company’s policy of requiring senior gameplay programmers to work from the office left Mr Ah-Thion, a person with autism, at a disadvantage due to his social interaction difficulties."

Game Developer has reached out to CIG for comment.

31st Union head Michael Condrey reportedly fired after weak Project Ethos reveal

Michael Condrey, founder and studio head of developer 31st Union, was allegedly fired by parent company 2K Games.

Sources speaking to Kotaku claim Condrey was let go on February 3. The studio is developing its debut title, codenamed 'Project Ethos,' which has reportedly drummed up little interest since its reveal last year. Come from Soccer 13 pools and matches

Condrey, who previously co-founded Sledgehammer Games (now one of several studios making Call of Duty games), spun up 31st Union in 2019. It was officially announced as 31st Union the following year, and more recently laid off staff in January 2024.

A representative for 2K told Kotaku it was "grateful to Michael for the dedication, passion and work ethic it took to build an incredible team and shape the vision of 31st Union." He will reportedly be an advisor on the game, and 2K remains "very committed to the forward path for Ethos and the people and culture of the studio."

At time of writing, a new studio head for 31st Union has not been revealed. Likewise, Ethos' fate is uncertain—though as Kotaku notes, more information may come with Take-Two's upcoming quarterly results.

Best RPGs Of 2021 According To Metacritic

The role-playing genre isn’t just one of the oldest in the gaming industry, it’s one of the most enduring as well. From turn-based JRPGs to Western RPGs with an action-based approach, great RPGs come in all different stripes. They can devour hours of your time, transport you to another land, and make all your in-game effort pay off when the day is eventually saved. Which RPGs are the best of 2021 though Come from malaysia online casino ? We’ve put together a list using data gleaned from GameSpot’s sister site Metacritic, and it includes PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, and PC games.

Some of the entries likely won’t surprise you, but the list below is a wonderful example of how the RPG genre remains magical with its ability to constantly reinvent itself.


Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy

The return of Ryza may look like a stock-standard RPG, but beneath a few well-worn tropes there’s a game that excels at providing a familiar and thoroughly enjoyable role-playing experience. Effortlessly charming with its cast. The alchemy system is now easier to get the hang of, battles have more visual flair, and exploration is a scenic detour when you’re not being interrupted by slime monsters. Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy isn’t a revolutionary JRPG, but it’s pure digital comfort food that’ll cast a spell on you. Atelier Ryza 2 is available on PlayStation, Switch, and PC.

Metascore: 84

Cyberpunk 2077 Dev Posts A Massive Profit For 2020

Thanks in part to the commercially successful launch of Cyberpunk 2077 back in December, CD Projekt Red had a massive year in 2020 when it comes to revenue and profit. Ahead of the company’s finalized earnings report on April 22, CD Projekt Red revealed how much money it made during its 2020 financial year–and it was a lot.

CD Projekt Red pulled in 2.139 billion PLN ($562.5 million) for revenue and 1.154 billion PLN ($303.5 million) in net profit Come from Sports betting site VPbet . The company said these numbers have not been formally audited so the actual numbers, after auditing, might be different when they are published in the full earnings release on April 22.

Destiny 2 Patch Notes For Update 3.4.0.1 Reveal Tweaks For Grasp Of Avarice Dungeon

Destiny 2’s festive season has kicked off in grand fashion, as the game currently has two major events running. For fans of Bungie, there’s the 30th Anniversary celebrations which have introduced the Dares of Eternity and the hilariously salty Grasp of Avarice dungeon, while anyone looking for more Christmas-themed cheer can dig into The Dawning and earn some good-looking gear. Some fine-tuning has been added to Destiny 2 in its final major patch of the year, as update 3.4.01 fixes a number of bugs in the new dungeon, the Trials of Osiris PvP mode, and several Strikes.

As previously mentioned, the Lake of Shadows Strike has now been tweaked to be slightly more challenging and will see the final boss Grask’s health increased by 34%, to a total of 134% of the previous value. In Grasp of Avarice, the dungeon has now been fine-tuned to be a more rewarding experience, while Dares of Eternity’s lingering bugs have been removed.

You can read the full patch notes below. Elsewhere in Destiny 2, the week has been as busy as ever Come from Sports betting site VPbet . In the wake of reports that it allegedly has a toxic workplace culture, Bungie head of HR Gayle d’Hondt has announced that she is stepping down from her role at the company.

Destiny Update 3.4.0.1 Notes

Trials of Osiris

  • Fixed an issue where players were not placed into the Flawless matchmaking pool upon achieving a Flawless passage.

Grasp of Avarice

  • Fixed an issue where Grisprax’s faction icon would not appear.
  • Fixed reward lockouts so each encounter can be looted for rerolls an unlimited amount of times per week, as intended. New items from the loot pool and Power are gated to once per week, per class.
  • Fixed activity crash in Sunken Lair encounter when killing Servitors.
  • Prevented bad bread-crumbing causing players to get stuck in crystal pit after dropping down from the Loot Cave.
  • Players can no longer continue to generate cursed engrams during DPS.
  • Fixed issue with Servitor bombs sometimes disappearing without explosion VFX when the timer runs out.
  • Fixed falsely advertised Weekly challenge pinnacle reward displayed when switching between classes and creating new characters.
  • Fixed combatants that did not despawn in Ogre and Loot Cave encounters.
  • Fixed Teammates not able to be revived if killed by trap on starting platform of the Sparrow section.
  • Updated pathfinding to prevent Cursed engrams dropped by the Reaver Vandal from falling into a pit.

Dares of Eternity

  • Fixed an issue where damage to Aspects of Crota would sometimes not ramp up in line with the Team Buff counter.
  • Fixed an issue that allowed vex craniums to damage other players.

Strikes

Lake of Shadows

  • To bring this boss encounter more in line with other strikes and our modern sandbox gameplay, Grask’s health has been increased by 34%, to a total of 134% of the previous value. He might last at least a minute or two against most fireteams now, even against ‘ol Gally.
  • Fixed an issue where if a player destroyed the second and third Blights before the first one, a number of combatants wouldn’t spawn. In addition to their normal behavior, they now also spawn if you attempt to move up the alley, regardless of the status of the Blights.

The Scarlet Keep

  • Fixed an issue where the crystal to continue the strike was permanently invincible if players got to the Wizard at the first stop of the elevator and killed it before the crystal could spawn.

Gameplay and Investment

Weapons

  • Added guaranteed drops of Dreaming City weapons from completing the Blind Well event.
  • Fixed issue with Wish-Ender Exotic Bow that blocked ornament application.

Abilities

  • Hunter’s Marksman and Gambler’s Dodges now break projectile tracking in PVE modes.
  • Fixed an issue where Stasis Crystals were damaging themselves while spawning.
  • Fixed an issue where Magnetic and Flux Grenades were deleting themselves when impacting allies. Now attach to allies on impact.
  • Fixed an issue where uncharged melee attacks were being suppressed for 1.5 seconds after the Winter’s Wrath super ended.
  • Increased size of the area that Coldsnap Grenade uses to find its initial target from 10m to 20m.
  • Fixed an issue where Penumbral Blast was not reliably creating Iceflare Bolts if the impact or detonation damage killed the target outright.

Bounties and Pursuits

  • Changed the Champion kills objective of the Stasis Fragment quest Umbral Flames to require Champion kills as a Stasis Subclass—rather than Champion kills with the Stasis element.
  • Players who discard the Xenology quest per character will once again be able to re-acquire it from Xûr.

Rewards

  • Fixed an issue causing players to be able to claim the Resplendent Reward Package from Xûr multiple times and across multiple characters.
  • Players who own the 30th Anniversary Pack will now earn the Resplendent Reward Package the first time they complete To the Daring Go the Spoils, and the package can’t be claimed from Xûr prior to being earned from the quest.
  • Players who purchase the 30th Anniversary Pack after completing the onramp can obtain the package from Xûr in Eternity.
  • Players can now reclaim the class-specific Streetwear Bundle packages if they get sent to the Postmaster where they can potentially be deleted if the Postmaster becomes full. These packages can be reclaimed from Xûr in Eternity if the Resplendent Reward Package has been claimed but the Streetwear Bundle package is not currently in the player’s inventory.
  • Players can now reclaim the Strange Key from Xûr in Eternity if they dismantle it before using it as part of the Magnum Opus quest. The Strange Key can be reclaimed by players who have already obtained it naturally and dismantled it as long as they are on an appropriate step of the quest.
  • Fixed an issue allowing players to earn rewards from the free chest in Xûr’s Treasure Hoard without a Treasure Key.

General

  • Fixed a bug in text chat where multiple clan messages could be received all at once after re-enabling text chat.
  • Exchanging Forsaken Ciphers for Ascendant Shards on the Monument to Lost Lights is now only available after players have already acquired dungeon Forsaken Exotics.
  • The Monument to Lost Lights now displays a waypoint if players have Forsaken Ciphers to pick up.
  • Exchanging Forsaken Ciphers for Ascendant Shards now has a four second purchase timer, to prevent accidental purchases. Buyer’s remorse in my holiday season? It’s more likely than you think.