The co-founder of esports org Excel Esports left the company earlier this year, now he’s going after them. The Excel Esports co-founder is perusing legal action against the company.
One of the co-founders of Excel esports left the company back in January. Kieran Holmes-Darby is no longer with the company. While the break between the founder and the esports org seemed smooth at the time, we’ve gotten a clearer picture now. Thanks to some documents obtained by Jacob Wolf, we know a bit more now. The Excel Esports co-founder is perusing legal action against the company, reportedly for wrongful dismissal.
Excel Esports Co-Founder Persuading Legal Action
Excel Esports co-founder Kieran Holmes-Darby left Excel in January. This was while the org had climbed to an impressive position, with major teams involved in League of Legends, Fortnite, FIFA, and Valorant. On leaving the company, the co-founder originally said “I will no longer be an employee at Excel and will not be involved in day-to-day operations of the brand”. It now seems the departure wasn’t entirely clean though.
Holmes-Darby is perusing legal action against Excel Esports. He’s specifically looking at wrongful dismissal. We don’t have full details just yet though. Under British media laws, the details of employment tribunal cases aren’t publicly available until the case has been heard by a tribunal.
The case is going to be Holmes-Darby against Excel Esports. It’s due to be held on October 11th. That will be at the Central London Employment Tribunal. This information is out there as the case has reached the docket. A source provided by Jacob Wolf says it’s over wrongful dismissal. Holmes-Darby however didn’t respond to the request for comments by Wolf.
CEO of Excel Esports did give a statement regarding the case, “A case has been filed by Kieran against EXCEL LEC Ltd”. He confirmed the case. However, he didn’t give much more information. They did say “it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the case at this stage.’
Excel Esports Co-Founder Leaving Org
Holmes-Darby originally left Excel back in January. The organization was originally founded by Holmes-Darby and his brother. He later served as CEO. However, he left that position in January 2020. He was replaced by a former CERO or Fanatic, while staying with the company for a longer period, serving a new role. Although, he eventually left in January 2022.
Since then, Holmes-Darby became a part of Formula E. He came on board with the racing company as Gaming Director. Formula E has organized Esports series called Formula E: Accelerate. The first season of this was held between January and March 2021, with official teams participating. Talking about that new position at the time, Holmes-Darby said “For me, being able to bring my expertise into the sporting world is an absolute dream. Formula E are so incredible well-placed to capitalise on the blending of the physical and digital worlds and I am thrilled to be able to bring gamified experiences to motorsport fans!”.
It was a bit of a jump from his past experience, but definitely, a fresh change compared to running an esports org. Even if the Excel Esports co-founder perusing legal action now complicates how he left the prior role.
Excel Esports
The org will be defending itself against the Excel Esports co-founder perusing legal action. It’s too early to tell how this will affect them. Like suffering any backlash. Especially if it is found that they were unfair in their treatment and dismissal of employees, including even a co-founder of the org.
Excel Esports has active teams in quite a few games. Including League of Legends. Their LoL team joined the in 2018, taking part in the LEC 2019 Spring Split. Outside of their LoL team, the org has competed in Fortnite, Valorant, and more, with even a World of Warcraft squad having competed for the team.