Rockstar Games HR chief denies asking staff to 'keep tabs' on union membership at employment tribunal

Rockstar Games' global head of HR, Robert Spampinato, told an employment tribunal it is "categorically not true" that he asked staff to monitor union membership at the Grand Theft Auto developer. Twenty-three of 34 workers dismissed from Rockstar's UK and Canada offices last October are claiming they were unfairly sacked for trade union activities. The company says the dismissals were for breaching confidentiality rules by discussing sensitive information on a Discord server.

Lawyers for the claimants are expected to allege the workers were unlawfully blacklisted and targeted for their union activities.

The tribunal heard that screenshots from an IWGB union meeting attended by Rockstar staff were passed to HR executive Charlie Kinloch by an employee known only as 'AB'.

Claimants' lawyer Richard O'Keefe pressed Spampinato directly on whether soliciting that information concerned him legally — Spampinato denied wrongdoing.