Obsidian sued over alleged unpaid wages, missed breaks, and California labor law violations

In a nutshell: Obsidian, the developer behind some of the best RPGs of all time, is being sued. A class-action lawsuit has been filed against the Fallout: New Vegas maker over allegations that it violated California wage and hour laws.

The case, Victoria Turner v. Obsidian Entertainment, was originally filed in Orange County Superior Court in October 2025. It appears to have gone largely unnoticed until Reddit user macken_zee highlighted the docket and court documents on the r/pcgaming subreddit. An amended complaint was filed on January 12, 2026.

Turner is listed in The Outer Worlds 2 credits as a QA lead. The filing seeks to represent current and former nonexempt employees who worked for Obsidian in California from October 9, 2021, through the date of class certification. It also seeks to certify a separate group of employees who left the company from October 9, 2022, onward.

The complaint alleges that Obsidian “engaged in a systematic pattern of wage and hour violations under the California Labor Code and Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Orders.”

Those alleged violations include failing to pay all minimum and overtime wages, failing to pay wages owed when employees left the company, failing to pay wages on time during employment, denying lawful meal and rest breaks or compensation in place of them, failing to reimburse necessary business expenses, and failing to provide accurate itemized wage statements.

The lawsuit seeks monetary relief for affected workers, including unpaid wages, unreimbursed expenses, interest, benefits, attorneys’ fees, costs, and penalties.

Obsidian said that it denies “generally and specifically, each and every allegation.” In a response filed in March, the studio asked for the complaint to be dismissed in its entirety with prejudice.

The company also laid out 38 points in its defence. Among them, Obsidian argues that the complaint does not state sufficient facts to support valid claims, and that Turner and any proposed class members “consented to and/or acquiesced in the alleged conduct.”

Reddit users have been arguing over whether California employees can waive meal and rest break protections. Others have urged caution, noting that complaints and responses in wage suits can contain broad, boilerplate allegations and defenses long before the facts are tested.

There has been little movement in the case since Obsidian’s March response. The suit remains pending