Ex-Apple employee files labour complaint against Epic

San Francisco: Accusing Epic Games of refusing to hire her because of her labour advocacy and support of unions, a former Activision Blizzard and Apple employee has reportedly filed a labour complaint with the National Labour Relations Board (NLBR) against the game developer.

In the complaint, Cher Scarlett makes multiple claims, alleging Epic refused to hire her because she supported a labour organisation, is working with the NLRB and has been protesting work conditions, reports The Washington Post.

Epic Games spokesperson Elka Looks confirmed Scarlett did an interview with the company as one of two candidates for a position as a senior front-end web developer.

She said the company was aware of Scarlett's labour advocacy early on in the job hiring process and it did not impact the decision.

"This candidate's resume and application included a link to their personal website. The website details their organizing activity, and this information did not factor into our decision to proceed with interviews," Looks was quoted as saying.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Scarlett claimed she had gone through four rounds of interviews with Epic between November and December 2021.

According to emails shared with The Post, on December 8 a recruiting coordinator at Epic sent Scarlett an email with an attached "Request for Activity" form that asks for the disclosure of "any efforts you take outside of work that may overlap with your potential role at Epic".

In the email, the recruiter wrote that the company "would like to get a head start on this process".

Scarlett filled out the Request for Activity form on December 8, saying she has been advising Apple members on a labour movement called "Apple Together" and testifying before the federal government for fair labour practices, according to the form, which was provided to The Post.

Two days later, Epic told her they decided to go with another candidate.

"We offered the position to someone else who scored higher in their interviews," Looks said.

"We received the 'Request for Outside Activities' form after we had already made a hiring decision for the position and had extended an offer to someone else. The form did not play any role in our decision. Candidates are asked to fill out an outside activity form over the course of the recruitment process and providing the form to a candidate is not a confirmation that an offer is forthcoming," Looks added.

At the time of publication, Epic Games had not received nor reviewed the complaint. The NLRB office is currently investigating the complaint, and if it finds sufficient evidence, it will then issue a complaint against Epic.

Scarlett, who is now a senior software engineer at ControlZee working on a game called "dot big bang", told The Post she is "still heartbroken over how naive (she) was to believe this company was on the side of labourers".