Lab Zero Games studio head Mike Zaimont has laid off all remaining staff members following the loss of several high profile employees.
One of those that walked away last month was Jonathan Kim, the artist who took to Twitter (below) yesterday to make the news of the layoffs public knowledge. Moreover, fellow former Lab Zero employee Marial Cartwright has sold sketchbooks of her work to raise money for those who have been affected by Zaimont’s decision.
The reason for the talented artists walking out was the boss himself, as they deemed his behaviour to be unacceptable. Cartwright, Kim and Brian Jun all walked due to Zaimont’s lack of respect for his staff. Cartwright claimed “he gets hostile and talks down to people,” while Kim insisted that “Mike abused his position of power to put his coworkers in uncomfortable, stressful situations for years.”
FYI Mariel has to do this because last week Mike laid off everyone who didn’t quit LZ, but hasn’t agreed to a severance for them yet. https://t.co/jmnZYlkYPU
— Persona (@personasama) September 2, 2020
A forced decision
Meanwhile, in an email to Kotaku, Zaimont claimed that he did not take the decision “lightly,” rather his hand was forced by being unable to meet payroll obligations following the mass walkout last month.
“Unfortunately, Lab Zero was forced into layoffs because we were no longer able to meet our payroll obligations. It is not a decision I made lightly. I personally know how hard it can be to find employment in a poorly performing economy, but we have more debt than cash, and the last thing I would ever do is not pay my hard-working colleagues or our partners for their work. We are exploring all funding options in hopes of bringing those team members back, but right now that’s the reality,” said Zaimont.
