Japanese videogames publisher and developer Sega, alongside an employment agency hired by them - Spherion - have been successfully sued for $600,000 by eighteen former employees, who were allegedly dismissed from their game tester positions by the firms, because of their Filipino origins. The Equal Opportunities Commission were behind the ruling, which found that had instructed the agency to fire the staff upon grounds of nationality, and in a bizarre twist this situation only arose after a complaint from a former employee claiming that the firm actually favoured Filipino workers.

The former employee threatened to make a Government complaint alleging the favouritism, sparking thirteen firings, and also the dismissal of five of the Filipino workers friends also employed by Sega. "There was no legitimate complaint, and if there were, [Sega and Spherion] conducted no investigations to verify it," commented Raymond Cheung, attorney for one of the plaintiffs. "We deposed everyone. We looked at the time sheets. There was no justification that there was preferential treatment of Filipinos."

One of the plaintiffs also alleged that working conditions were often extremely taxing, owing to the constant threat of dismissal given the crowd of young gamers eager for game testing roles. Neither Sega or the agency Spherion admitted liability, but did promise to amend their procedures to alleviate future allegations. Thanks to Gamepro.com.

By Luke Guttridge