Epic Games layoffs leave worker with terminal brain cancer without insurance, wife claims
A terminally ill employee with brain cancer was among roughly 1,000 workers laid off by the video game company behind Fortnite — and he lost his health insurance as a result, according to his wife.Jenni Griffin said in a Facebook post that her husband, Mike Prinke, a 38-year-old resident of Sanford, NC, was among more than 1,000 employees laid off by Epic Games — but unlike others, he is battling terminal brain cancer.Tim Sweeney, the CEO of Epic, responded to online outrage by saying that the company was in touch with Griffin and Prinke and that his firm would “solve the insurance for them.”Last week, Sweeney said that all of the Epic employees affected by the layoffs would receive a severance package that includes at least four months of base pay as well as extended health insurance coverage for six months.“For Epic employees impacted by the layoffs, they receive a severance package that includes at least four months of base pay, with more based on tenure.We’ve also extended Epic-paid healthcare coverage,” Epic spokesperson Liz Markman told The Post.“We are in touch with Mike directly and working to provide him extended insurance coverage.”“Because of the layoff, we didn’t just lose income — we lost his life insurance,” Griffin wrote on Saturday, adding that his illness is now considered a pre-existing condition, making it impossible to secure new coverage.“So now, as I face the reality of losing my husband… I’m also facing the reality of what type of funeral/burial I can afford,” she wrote.Griffin said she shared the post in hopes it would reach someone at the company who could help, writing: “Mike is not just a number.
He is a father.A husband.
A person deeply loved.”Griffin also shared a stark image of her husband’s brain scan, showing a highlighted tumor in the frontal lobe.The image included text warning that “there are dozens of tumors actively growing,” adding that one in particular was “aggressively taking ov...