{"id":553035,"date":"2026-03-29T21:35:07","date_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553035\/"},"modified":"2026-03-29T21:35:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-29T21:35:07","slug":"epic-lays-off-terminally-ill-employee-who-cant-get-life-insurance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/553035\/","title":{"rendered":"Epic Lays Off Terminally Ill Employee Who Can’t Get Life Insurance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week, Epic Games announced it was laying off over 1,000 employees<\/a> to \u201ckeep the company funded.\u201d One of them was Mike Prinke, a programmer who had been at the Fortnite maker for just under seven years. Over the weekend, his wife, Jenni Griffin, shared in a Facebook post that Prinke was facing terminal brain cancer and would be losing his life insurance due to the cuts.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy husband, Mike was recently laid off along with over a thousand others at Epic Games,\u201d she wrote<\/a>. \u201cWhat makes this different for our family is that Mike is currently fighting terminal brain cancer. Because of the layoff, we didn\u2019t just lose income\u2014we lost his life insurance. And because his condition is now considered a pre-existing condition, he can\u2019t get new coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n

The message had a brain scan image attached that showed an aggressive growth in the frontal lobe. Griffin told Kotaku that Prinke had frequent medical appointments and had previously taken paid leave. His condition wasn\u2019t a secret at the company. \u201cEveryone he worked with knows,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Her Facebook post quickly spread to Reddit and X where large Fortnite news accounts began tagging Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney. \u201cAre you happy now?\u201d read one<\/a>. Epic Games did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Griffin told Kotaku that the family is currently trying to obtain needed documents and, hopefully, find contingency clauses in the paperwork while they talk to life insurance providers. She\u2019s also been weighing whether to launch a GoFundMe campaign, but doesn\u2019t know if they should wait until they have more info or if by then it will be too late.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe should be spending every possible moment treasuring the time we have left as tumors are actively bleeding into Mike\u2019s brain,\u201d she wrote. \u201cBut instead, we have to rush to try and figure out life insurance as fast as possible. At any time, Mike could have his third \u2018major event\u2019 and become unresponsive.\u00a0 At that point, he will not have the ability to track all this stuff down.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his original post announcing the layoffs, Sweeney said employees<\/a> based in the U.S. would receive severance pay for 6 months, accelerated stock options vesting, and extended Epic-paid healthcare coverage.<\/p>\n

\u201cMike is not just a number\u201d <\/p>\n

Many company benefits packages also include life insurance policies that provide payouts to families in the event of someone\u2019s untimely death. When those policies lapse, people can buy life insurance directly through providers, but someone with Prinke\u2019s medical condition wouldn\u2019t be eligible. Life insurance payouts are often used to cover not just funeral expenses but also provide a cushion to help weather the loss of a person\u2019s income.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I face the reality of losing my husband\u2026I\u2019m also facing the reality of what type of funeral\/burial I can afford,\u201d Griffin wrote in her Facebook post. \u201cHow I will keep a roof over our heads. How I will protect our son and the life we built together. What will happen to our dogs. I truly believe that if the people who made this decision understood the full human impact, they would not have intended this outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

While much of Prinke\u2019s work remained internal, he also helped with Epic\u2019s \u201cInside Unreal\u201d tutorials that were posted on YouTube<\/a>. One guided tour of gameplay abilities systems posted back in 2021 has been viewed<\/a> hundreds of thousands of times. Griffin told Kotaku that Prinke had even pursued specific treatments for his cancer to prevent memory loss so that it wouldn\u2019t interfere with his work. \u201cHe really gave everything to keep our family protected only to be laid off,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n

Griffin asked anyone connected to Epic Games to share her message with those at the company who might be able to do something about the situation and for everyone else to signal boost it where possible. \u201cMike is not just a number. He is a father. A husband. A person deeply loved,\u201d she wrote. \u201cWe are running out of time, and I\u2019m trying everything I can to protect my family while I still have him here with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Update 3\/29\/2026, 2:16 p.m.: Sweeney said the company is in touch with Prinke and posted the following on X:<\/p>\n

Epic is in contact with the family and will solve the insurance for them. There is high confidentiality around medical information and it was not a factor in this layoff decision. Sorry to everyone for not recognizing this terribly painful situation and handling it in advance.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tim Sweeney (@TimSweeneyEpic) March 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n