Another legal victory for the embattled composer.
Earlier this summer, Marty O’Donnell, Bungie’s music chief and composer of the iconic Halo theme, was fired. In the ensuing legal hailstorm, O’Donnell was eventually awarded almost $100,000 in damages and unpaid benefits. Now, an arbitrator (no, not that guy) has ordered Bungie to restore the composer’s stock in the company as well.
It’s impossible to know how much money was at stake here, as Bungie is privately held, and we don’t know how much of a stake O’Donnell had. Still, Activision has reportedly pumped upwards of $500 million dollars into the upcoming Destiny, meaning they expect to make ungodly sums of cash from the game. Owning a bit of Bungie seems like a pretty safe bet.
At the time he was terminated, O’Donnell was working on the score for Destiny, along with Sir Paul McCartney. While the details behind the firing remain secret, O’Donnell later sued Bungie’s CEO Harold Ryan directly for withholding unpaid overtime, vacation, and benefits, claiming the firing was without cause.
Before Bungie, O’Donnell was writing ad jingles. Now, after composing iconic scores for over a decade, I’m sure he’ll have no problem finding work doing whatever he wants.
Source: Venture Beat
