Update 12/10/2022: Per Esports News UK, Kieran Holmes-Darby and EXCEL have reached a settlement prior to the hearing on October 11th.
EXCEL ESPORTS Co-founder Kieran Holmes-Darby has filed a claim against the organisation to an employment tribunal, UK court filings show.
The claim in question was confirmed by EXCEL, as first reported by The Jacob Wolf Report, but the reason for and contents of it are unknown.
According to the official court documents, the hearing is set to take place on October 11th at the London Central Employment Tribunal.
Details of the case are not made public, as is standard practice for employment tribunal cases in the UK. However, media reports detail that Holmes-Darby is suing EXCEL on the account of wrongful dismissal. Neither party have confirmed.
Kieran Holmes-Darby and his brother Joel founded EXCEL Esports in December 2014. Joel Holmes-Darby left EXCEL back in 2020 to join Method, a World of Warcraft guild and gaming and esports organisation.
Kieran served as EXCEL’s CEO, before moving to the position of Chief Gaming Officer when current CEO Wouter Sleijffers joined the company. Kieran Holmes-Darby later joined Formula E as the company’s Gaming Director in early 2022.
Little is known about the employment tribunal claim. EXCEL Esports CEO Wouter Sleijffers said in a statement to The Jacob Wolf Report that “a case has been filed by Kieran against EXCEL LEC Ltd.”, but added that “it would not be appropriate to comment on the case at this stage.”
If the lawsuit is indeed tied to wrongful dismissal, it means that Holmes-Darby claims that he was dismissed in breach of the employment contract, that he was given less than the statutory minimum notice period and that he suffered financially because of it. Basically, it means that EXCEL did not follow the contract that was agreed.
The story is still developing.
