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http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/11/11/news_6112998.html

EA workers readying class action lawsuit against EA
Lawyer representing plaintiffs addresses "proposed class action" lawsuit seeking unpaid overtime from the world's biggest third-party publisher.

Yesterday, a blog entry from the spouse of a worker at Electronic Arts lashed out against the game giant. "The current mandatory hours are 9am to 10pm--seven days a week--with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30pm)," read the post, which went on to claim EA employees receive no overtime, 'comp' time, or additional vacation for their efforts.

Like most blogs, the veracity of "EA Spouse's" online rant was questionable at best. However, after receiving much attention online, GameSpot News decided to investigate the matter--and found there might be some truth behind the blogger's anger.

Following a tip from an informed source, GameSpot contacted Attorney Robert C. Schubert, partner at San Francisco law firm Schubert & Reed LLP. He said that he has initiated legal proceedings to start a class action lawsuit on behalf of a group of EA employees. "We are seeking unpaid overtime for a good number of [EA] employees who weren't [properly] paid," Schubert told GameSpot this afternoon. "EA contends they were exempt," Schubert said. "We contend otherwise."

To recover the money felt owed them, said employees are trying to file a class action lawsuit against EA seeking overtime pay. On July 29, the complaint Jamie Kirschenbaum vs. Electronic Arts, Inc. was filed in San Mateo Superior Court. Kirschenbaum is one of the members of the Sims 2 design team, although his current employment status at EA could not be clarified as of press time.

However, to initiate a class action suit, a group must first be first certified as a "class" by the court. Schubert also said that until a class is certified by the court, he couldn't say how many individuals would seek to participate in the legal action. "We haven't been certified as a class yet," said Schubert, who admitted that certification "is a big battle."

And it looks like the lines for that battle are already being drawn. GameSpot was sent a copy of an e-mail purportedly sent to Electronic Arts employees over the summer, alerting them to the lawsuit. The e-mail went so far as to inform them that if they chose to participate in the lawsuit by joining the class, if it were to be certified, there would be no repercussions.

The e-mail, while not yet confirmed to be authentic, frames the dispute between the proposed class and Electronic Arts as follows:

"On July 29, 2004, a class action lawsuit was filed against Electronic Arts Inc. ("EA"). This communication responds to earlier email communications from EA management regarding the litigation. The lawsuit alleges that EA improperly classified some of its employees, including 'animators,' 'modelers,' 'texture artists,' 'lighters,' 'background effects artists' and 'environmental artists' as exempt from overtime, and therefore failed to pay those employees overtime compensation. Plaintiff's action seeks statutory penalties, damages, restitution, and injunctive relief.

"EA denies plaintiff's claim. It is EA's position that it treats its employees fairly and lawfully, and that it has properly classified its employees within the meaning of the law. The plaintiff is seeking to bring this lawsuit on behalf of himself and to represent a proposed class of current and former EA employees as a class action. The Court has not yet certified this case as a class action"

"If the case is certified, members of the class will be notified as directed by the Court, and may be given the opportunity to be excluded from the class ("opting out"), or to hire their own lawyers to represent them"

"EA will not retaliate against employees for exercising legal rights, including by participating in the proposed class action."

According to Schubert, the most recent action taken by the court was the denial of a motion by EA that would have stopped the certification process in its tracks.

E-mails to Electronic Arts requesting comment had not been returned at press time.

 

[Sho Nuff]

EA is so evil. I feel bad for buying Burnout 3...

 

[PhatSaqs]

Evil Assholes

 

[snapty00]

The current mandatory hours are 9am to 10pm--seven days a week--with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30pm),"

I'm not defending EA, but why do people put up with shit like this, anyway? I'd just get another job.

 

[ourumov]

EA....Screw Everything.

 

[Mama Smurf]

Why would these people be exempt from overtime exactly?

 

[acklame]

only 5 replies?

GAF is slipping! not enough EA hate

 

[shuri]

I'm not defending EA, but why do people put up with shit like this, anyway? I'd just get another job.

I wouldnt put up with that shit. I would quit without thinking about it twice. From what I understand, people werent getting paid for the overtime hours? What kind of bullshit is that?

 

[jenov4]

Down with EA!

Watch them outsource all this coding to india/china/ southeast asia then everyone will cry.

 

[ourumov]

Down with EA!

Watch them outsource all this coding to india/china/ southeast asia then everyone will cry.

Hmmm...NFSU 3 ????

 

[Chony]

I HATE EA.

There it has been said.

EA makes crappy stuff.

Most game companies overwork their workers, this is news?

 

[DSN2K]

whoever agrees to work those kind of hours is insane.

 

[Willco]

Now we know why Madden is so much better than ESPN!

 

[Zilch]

The last EA game that I played was Desert Strike.

 

[Randam_Hajile]

EA sucks.

 

[demi]

FREEEEEDOM FIGHTERS ! ! !!11

 

[Quartet]

they should apply at SoJ, there they are paid to stare at a desk in an empty room all day

 

[Mama Smurf]

Of course, if this lawsuit is successful, we can all look forward to even crappier games. Good for developers (the people, not the company), bad for gamers.

 

[Justin Bailey]

Interesting, if this goes through then we'll defintiely see some drastic changes in the US industry.

 

[RiZ III]

fucking EA will burn

 

[Late Stage Marxist]

Most game companies overwork their workers, this is news?

EA is the leading third-party publisher/developer. They have an image to maintain and a responsibility to their employees, who make them the successful company that they've become. Overtime pay really isn't too much to ask.

 

[Warm Machine]

Well, in BC for the Burnaby and Vancouver offices and for technology in general EA and the government got together and took away overtime pay rights for tech workers.

That decision was about 3 years ago and may have since been repealed. In my 8 years in the industry I've NEVER been paid overtime. Though...I've also never been held to any specific working hours exept for the last few months. The first company I ever worked at had no core hours at all. In the end everything worked out.

 

[TheGreenGiant]

I hope the class action wins. DOWN WITH EA. I reckon treat your gurus like second-rate humans and get some of the pain back. I hope this changes the gooddammn industry.

EA = buy and ruin everything

 

[rastex]

I think this is what it comes down to for game developers.

They can either work long hours most of the time and insane hours some of the time doing something they really enjoy and being constantly challenged/learning new things.

Or they can work regular-long hours at a job they most likely hate.

 

[nubbe]

Hope they will need to file for bankruptcy!

 

[FrenchMovieTheme]

suck it down losers! you wouldn't know innovation if it spooged all over your face that a glorious favre bullet TD from 85 yards out.

madden is going to make these people an offer they cant refuse... work for free or get carved up like a turducken on thanksgiving. its your choice ladies, and no you can't just leave the company. you can't quit john or EA!

*remember: you're here forever!*






in all seriousness though if the working conditions are THAT bad (like that chick who posted about her husband working long hours), then why don't they get a job they enjoy more? sure, the pay will be less, but if your life is so fucking MISERABLE working 80+ hours a week, what good is it to have money anyways? oh, you knocked your wife up 4 times and now have 4 kids to take care of? sucks bruvuh, but you should have thought about your future responsibilities before you boned your wife without a rubber.

so here's an easy solution:

less hours + less money = happier social life, worse financial shape
more hours + more money = no social life, better financial shape

dont whine and bitch about it, become men of action! time to close the case on another mystery

 

[Panajev2001a]

They can either work long hours most of the time and insane hours some of the time doing something they really enjoy and being constantly challenged/learning new things.

Or they can work regular-long hours at a job they most likely hate.

You are not counting all those programmers and artist working on a game that will blow and not enjoying one second of that "challenge" because of deadlines being too tight for example.

Working long hours can be done, but not getting paid for it ? It is such a priviledge making games... why don't they ask developers to put $10K of their pocket money into the company as well for their first year there ? Yeah, for the first year the developers would pay EA instead of even getting paid.

After-all, they could be working at a job that does not challenge them and that they would hate instead of something they enjoy :rolleyes.

Programming-wise, I see already a small crisis coming: working on databases or other systems in big corporations like banks and others can be just as challenging for a good programmer and pay much much more.

 

[D2M15]

edited for hopeless naievete.

 

[TigerKnee]

It's funny how I see all these posts asking "So why don't they get another job?". Easier said then done kiddos. Getting a job in the tech industry right now is pretty difficult with outsourcing and consolidation abound.

 

[stewy]

This isn't just an EA issue, it's industry wide. I bet the percentage of people who actually get paid overtime in this industry is frighteningly low. And comp time (which can be offered instead of overtime pay) is either not given or not nearly enough to make up for the hours worked.

I just worked about 9 months of crunch over the past year. And that's why I decided to get out.

 

[xsarien]

EA is the leading third-party publisher/developer. They have an image to maintain and a responsibility to their employees, who make them the successful company that they've become. Overtime pay really isn't too much to ask.

The fact that they're the "biggest" means nothing, all game developers and publishers would do well to properly pay their employees. This isn't about EA, it's about an industry that's taking advantage of people who want to make games, and people who make completely unnecessary sacrifices for something that's being painted as a privilege unlike any other.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

what was that a few months ago about Bush passing that legislation to change overtime rules? I wonder if that had anything to do with this.

 

[pcostabel]

Exempt employees are paid an annual wage, not hourly. Their contract states the minimum amount of hours they have to work daily or weekly. Non exempt employees are paid hourly and therefore get overtime. I worked in the movie industry and they pay overtime, while in the gaming industry generally they don't. When you sign a contract, you agree tho the terms. If you don't like it, you can always ask for changes in the contract or just work for a different company. In my experience, the demand for skilled game programmers still far outpaces the available work force. I get constantly harassed by head hunters, if I didn't like my job I could leave at any time. Why EA is certainly behaving badly, there is really no excuse for EA employees to complain. They can leave if they don't like it. Usually big companies like EA hire
junior programmer that need to build a resume and leave after they get their first credit.
And with six figures salary, you really shouldn't be complaining about unpaid overtime.

 

[Ranger X]

But this is good! I hope they will succeed in puting them to court. EA deserve to be put back in place. They just think about their fucking wallets and nothing else. They should recognise their employees are human and that it's because of them that they stinking filthy rich. I hope they loose alot of money in this cause. (and since this is a fair cause for a change! ***remembers McKool's stupidities)

 

[mashoutposse]

"The current mandatory hours are 9am to 10pm--seven days a week--with the occasional Saturday evening off for good behavior (at 6:30pm),"

Maybe within certain development teams, but that just isn't believable as a company-wide policy.

 

[dskillzhtown]

Hope they will need to file for bankruptcy!

EA won't, but if this lawsuit is successful, I wonder how many places will go out of business or have to sale to another company. I am not saying that EA shouldn't have to pay overtime, I think they should. Any company should pay overtime if you are working people to the bone. But, this happens in all industries. If you are a salaried employee, you get nice benefits, but you don't get overtime. You can work 80 hours a week, and not see anything for your efforts.

Sounds like the EA workers need to join this site:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/Restore_OvertimePay

 

[stewy]

Exempt employees are paid an annual wage, not hourly. Their contract states the minimum amount of hours they have to work daily or weekly. Non exempt employees are paid hourly and therefore get overtime. I worked in the movie industry and they pay overtime, while in the gaming industry generally they don't. When you sign a contract, you agree tho the terms. If you don't like it, you can always ask for changes in the contract or just work for a different company. In my experience, the demand for skilled game programmers still far outpaces the available work force. I get constantly harassed by head hunters, if I didn't like my job I could leave at any time. Why EA is certainly behaving badly, there is really no excuse for EA employees to complain. They can leave if they don't like it. Usually big companies like EA hire
junior programmer that need to build a resume and leave after they get their first credit.
And with six figures salary, you really shouldn't be complaining about unpaid overtime.

I think the bit in question is that the exemption rules may not apply to game developers. I also think that to be exempt you need to be making a certain amount of money per 40-hour work week, and loads of regular joe designer/artist/programmer types don't fall into that category.

That's what I got from reading some of the responses on that EA Spouse page, anyway.

Either way, you're right. You do sign a contract when you get hired. This is why the game industry has such a young age average. Get em when they're right out of school, have no spouse or family to speak of, and work them to the bone for a pittance. Most people are just so jazzed to be making video games that they're OK with it. It's when they hit around 30 that they start to wake up and wonder why they're killing themselves to work on a game that, 9 times out of 10, isn't worth a damn anyway.

It's sad to think that, if you're 35, you're considered a senior employee in this industry.

 

[Crazymoogle]

Exempt employees are paid an annual wage, not hourly.

To qualify as exempt, you need to make 90k USD/year.

And with six figures salary, you really shouldn't be complaining about unpaid overtime.

Six figure salary? Game development? :lol

Actually, a former coworker of mine makes the exemption as a programming lead...in Santa Monica. But thats by far the closest I've ever heard to a six figure salary (as opposed to payouts for game performance)

 

[pcostabel]

To qualify as exempt, you need to make 90k USD/year.



Six figure salary? Game development? :lol

Actually, a former coworker of mine makes the exemption as a programming lead...in Santa Monica. But thats by far the closest I've ever heard to a six figure salary (as opposed to payouts for game performance)

I must be really good then

 

[Warm Machine]

To qualify as exempt, you need to make 90k USD/year.

Six figure salary? Game development? :lol

Actually, a former coworker of mine makes the exemption as a programming lead...in Santa Monica. But thats by far the closest I've ever heard to a six figure salary (as opposed to payouts for game performance)

Ha ha...actually almost all the people I know at EA Vancouver/Burnaby in the higher up positions on teams make close to or are at 6 figures. Oh, stock options and 10% salary performance bonuses are not uncommon. I actually know a guy in development who got a 40k performance bonus.

9am to 10pm are not general work hours day in and day out. Only the last 2 to 3 months on a project do the work hours ramp up like that. Come Next-Gen it'll start becoming a choice whether to hire a load of new people, focus on one platform only, or not go out the door every year day and date.

 

[Dsal]

Heh, people would be surprised how badly entry level to mid level game developers get paid, especially at EA. They'd make way more money at a standard programming job.

And the months-long requisite crunch hours thing has been verified by a friend of mine that works there. It's not just one division in EA but many of the divisions doing this.

The thing is, if you are young and love making games you want to stay in the industry as long as you can physically and mentally take it. Overwork is seen as a challenge to your very manhood, and the fact that you can conquer it really makes you feel good. Working a 36 hour straight day? It's an accomplishment, a resume bullet point even, and you ignore the fact that you are being used. You ignore the fact that your true per-hour wage when it's all divided out by the time you spend is horrible. You love making games, you love the ridiculous challenge level, it's all good... for a while.

And we can't discount the team dynamic. If you really love the guys on your development team like brothers, you don't want to let them down. You all depend on each other, and to not work as hard as everyone else is like letting down your family. If you let them down, they'll have to work even harder because of you being "selfish".

The companies know that young developers think this way and they exploit it.

The feeling of accomplishment of taking kicks to the crotch repeatedly wears off after oh, 3 years or so. Then one day in front of the monitor, you have an epiphany. You realize that someone is actually repeatedly kicking you in the crotch, and you only were taking it because of your pride in your work. You love your team, but you can only take so much. You get pissed and burnt out, and then you leave.

I can't imagine what it's like to try to raise a family doing all that either. Decent companies that actually want to retain people eventually need to let their workers raise families.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Of course, if this lawsuit is successful, we can all look forward to even crappier games. Good for developers (the people, not the company), bad for gamers.

Or maybe EA will start to create more realistic schedules Believe it or not, even EA has standards they try to reach regarding quality. Crappier games aren't going to be an acceptable solution to the poor scheduling problem.

 

[COCKLES]

I think this demonstrates why EA's games are so soulless. Working 80 hour weeks when all you want to do is go home and see your family and shag the missus. I bet the devs must be sick of seeing VDU screens by the end of a project.

EA really need to stop these 12 month game-dev lifecycles and take a hint out of Bungies book...although not out of Rare's obviously. :lol

 

[Warm Machine]

With sports they either have to get a new game out a year...or sell some kind of upgrade patch to the existing game. It may end up coming to the later when costs skyrocket next gen. If right now they are barely able to get them out the door next gen is going to be even rougher with 6 to 8 platforms to support. The one console future is coming!!!

 

[Baron Aloha]

Good. I hope they win.

 

[Eric-GCA]

I hope they win too, I've heard so many stories about how EA treats its employees like crap. This may be what is needed to finally knock some decency into the exploitative management.

When it comes to game development, all companies will have their workers do long hours and the 80 hour work weeks are what comes with the territory. Still, I hear that EA's work environment doesn't help at all to make things easier on the employee.

I for one am never going to work there. Its better to work for a developer who has to deal with the big publisher rather than directly under a huge publisher.

This is also why I'm hoping Valve wins their own lawsuits against Vivendi.

 

[Crazymoogle]

I must be really good then

Heh.

I really shouldn't be surprised about higher up EAers getting six figures, but can I assume thats on the programming side? (wages like that would surprise me given how desperately every company in the industry wants a dozen programmers...yesterday). Everything I've seen indicates six figure salaries are fairly rare, and far more-so on the art/design sides.

If I told you guys my hours/income ratio for the last few years you'd probably hand me a McD's application and some mcgriddles

 

[Argyle]

I for one am never going to work there. Its better to work for a developer who has to deal with the big publisher rather than directly under a huge publisher.

This is also why I'm hoping Valve wins their own lawsuits against Vivendi.

You clearly have never worked for a developer who has to deal with a big publisher

I don't know how I feel about the Valve-Vivendi stuff - it kinda looks like fucktards on both sides (Valve screwing Vivendi when I presume Vivendi picked up most of the development tab for HL 2, vs. Vivendi being, well, fucktards)...

 

[psycho_snake]

This is the reason that i would never work in the game industry. Sure, it must be great making a game, but if you know that your going to get treated like crap, you might as well do another programming or art job with less working hours and the same pay or even more.

 

[Mr_Furious]

Its better to work for a developer who has to deal with the big publisher rather than directly under a huge publisher.

Being someone who's been on both sides, I can't say I agree. Larger companies offer better perks. At worst, the situations between a publisher and a developer are different but no better. In fact, usually the developer is getting the shaft for the publisher who likes to nickel and dime the project to be MUCH more than they paid for. This can equate to TONS of rework requiring the 80 hours per week being disputed here.

With sports they either have to get a new game out a year...or sell some kind of upgrade patch to the existing game. It may end up coming to the later when costs skyrocket next gen. If right now they are barely able to get them out the door next gen is going to be even rougher with 6 to 8 platforms to support. The one console future is coming!!!

Or EA could simply hire more people to get the game done on an annual basis. The company's making a BILLION in profit so I think they can afford the extra labor costs.