Call of Duty Lawsuit Going to Trial
By Kyle Mann | December 23, 2011 | News | No comments | Share
If you’ve been wondering whatever happened to the big, complex series of lawsuits surrounding the firings of Jason West and Vincent Zampella from Activision, it’s been proceeding as normal, albeit slowly. Yet the situation took an important turn this week as a California Superior Court judge denied motions from both EA and West & Zampella for the court to carry out a summary judgement, meaning no trial would be necessary.
The legal rumble goes all the way back to March of 2010, when West and Zampella were fired by Activision for allegations of insubordination. The pair immediately sued the company, claiming they were never paid a large sum of royalties for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2; in turn, Activision counter-sued for breach of contract, claiming West and Zampella had conspired to steal away employees for a new studio and had met secretly with rival EA. Several dozen employees of Infinity Ward also left the company and sued Activision for unpaid royalties. Activision later added EA to the lawsuit.
Though the motion to get the matter settled before a judge was denied (a move no doubt EA and the Respawn Entertainment folks alike felt would be to their advantage), the pair’s attorney issued a statement expressing optimism that a jury would see things their way:
We are eager to get to trial on May 7 to prove Jason and Vince's case against Activision for firing them without cause and denying them the money they earned. Activision's claims against EA are a smoke screen, seeking to distract attention from Activision's atrocious behavior to Jason, Vince, and the rest of the Infinity Ward team.Robert Schwartz, Attorney
There’s a whole lot at stake here for all entities involved, and we’re positive all sides are itching to argue their positions and lay the issue to rest. We’ll be keeping close tabs on this one come May 7 of next year.
