Composer Marty O’Donnell’s legal battles against former employer Bungie is still rumbling on.
Back in April, O’Donnell took to twitter to announce that contract with Bungie had been terminated “without cause”. He then filed a lawsuit against the company claiming damages, which ultimately resulted in a Judge finding in his favor and awarding him more than $95,000 for unpaid work, outstanding holiday pay and significant damages.
Now, a Judge in Seattle has found in his favor once more - and ordered Bungie to return O’Donnell’s Founder’s shares to him. His shares had been taken away from him by Bungie following his departure. According to his agreement with the developer, O’Donnell would have forfeited his shares had he left the company voluntarily, but as the ongoing court case has shown, he clearly doesn’t feel that was the case and that his shares should be reinstated.
Despite Bungie arguing that reinstating his shares would make O’Donnell a “bothersome presence” at board meeting, Judge Sharon Armstrong ruled against Bungie, issuing a preliminary injunction that will see O’Donnell’s shares returned to him.
O’Donnell was one of the founding members of Bungie, having worked for the company composing the scores to iconic games such Halo: Combat Evolved. Prior to his departure he had been working on the soundtrack for upcoming multiplayer first-person shooter Destiny, which is due to be released next month.