VU Games saga continues as lawsuit kicks off
Former employee claims compensation from troubled publisher
Vivendi's most eagerly-awaited, Half-Life 2
VU Games has suffered yet another blow today, as ex-VUG developer Neil Aitken has filed an official legal case against the troubled publisher. After the company had admitted to non-payment of wages, the former employee justifiably wishes to reclaim monies owed. On top of this, he is also claiming that most VUG workers should be entitled to recover overtime wages and civil penalties.
Allegedly, managers at Vivendi Universal had specifically instructed employees to falsify their weekly timesheets, paying particular disregard for weekend work and overtime. If the court's eventual decision goes in favour of Aitken et al., VUG could be forced not only to come up with unpaid wages, but also extra overtime rates and a hefty fine for breaking employment laws in the first place.
Whatever the outcome, this is sure to work to the detriment of VU's optimistically pitched 'transition phase', which obviously didn't account for these unforeseen extra legal costs.
Allegedly, managers at Vivendi Universal had specifically instructed employees to falsify their weekly timesheets, paying particular disregard for weekend work and overtime. If the court's eventual decision goes in favour of Aitken et al., VUG could be forced not only to come up with unpaid wages, but also extra overtime rates and a hefty fine for breaking employment laws in the first place.
Whatever the outcome, this is sure to work to the detriment of VU's optimistically pitched 'transition phase', which obviously didn't account for these unforeseen extra legal costs.
Companies:
Vivendi
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Comments
andrew3dp 1 Jul 2004 23:50
1/3
This is why most people that work in the industry are salaried...
Joji 2 Jul 2004 11:56
2/3
Another tale of woeful corruption creeping into the industry, this is becoming an everyday thing. What next, the Mafia pulling Mr Gates strings?
I think the guy should stick it out and get his money, the same way others would in other industries.
I think the guy should stick it out and get his money, the same way others would in other industries.
YenRug 2 Jul 2004 12:55
3/3
andrew3dp wrote:
>This is why most people that work in the industry
>are salaried...
If you check the original story you will see that the VU employees are all salaried anyway, but under California law this does not exempt VU from being liable to pay overtime. I do wonder where people get this strange idea that being salaried means you're not entitled to overtime, though. It is normal for most contracts to state that you are employed at a certain wage for X amount of hours work per week; anything over that is either taken off as time in lieu or paid at an overtime rate, if time in lieu is not feasible. Is this non-payment for overtime an American thing?
>This is why most people that work in the industry
>are salaried...
If you check the original story you will see that the VU employees are all salaried anyway, but under California law this does not exempt VU from being liable to pay overtime. I do wonder where people get this strange idea that being salaried means you're not entitled to overtime, though. It is normal for most contracts to state that you are employed at a certain wage for X amount of hours work per week; anything over that is either taken off as time in lieu or paid at an overtime rate, if time in lieu is not feasible. Is this non-payment for overtime an American thing?