Shannon Burns, former vice president of engineering at Gitpod, was dismissed from her £220,000-a-year (around ₹2.7 crore) role in June 2023.

Updated on: Sep 25, 2026, 23:01:15 IST

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A tech executive who was fired after sleeping in a sauna during a work trip has won the right to pursue £76 million (nearly ₹964 crore) in compensation, which could be the largest payout in British employment tribunal history.

According to a report by The Independent, Shannon Burns, former vice president of engineering at Gitpod, was dismissed from her £220,000-a-year (around ₹2.7 crore) role in June 2023 after an incident during a team-building trip to Austria. She later won a disability discrimination case against the company.

Burns developed PTSD during her sacking and has now left the tech industry for good. She is seeking £76 million in compensation, based on calculations of her potential future earnings and other losses.

Gitpod, a company owned by OpenAI, attempted to restrict the compensation that she could seek to £1m. However, the Birmingham Employment Tribunal has now rejected the company’s application, meaning she can formally pursue £76 million in compensation.

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Why was Shannon Burns fired?

Burns, who has ADHD, travelled to Lofer, Austria, for a team-building event in April 2023. According to the tribunal, she had been drinking alcohol during the trip and forgot her room key one evening, leaving her unable to access her room. She eventually slept in a sauna that night.

Following the trip, Gitpod CEO Johannes Landgraf raised concerns about what he described as her “lack of professional accountability”. Burns was subsequently dismissed in June 2023.

Burns later alleged that she was treated differently from male colleagues who had also been drinking during the off-site.

In 2025, the Birmingham Employment Tribunal found that Burns had been dismissed because of her disabilities, allowing her to pursue compensation.

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Tribunal allows £76m claim

Gitpod had applied for a deposit order that would effectively prevent Burns from pursuing losses above £1 million, describing her £76 million claim as “extraordinary”.

However, employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon rejected the application, noting Burns’ “exceptionally high pay history” and her case that she could have continued earning a substantial salary in the technology sector. The judge also noted that Burns’ calculations include potential salary and equity losses.

The judge noted that Gitpod was acquired by OpenAI for about $400 million (£302 million), and that Burns held a 0.85% stake in the company. Based on the acquisition value, the judge said that Burns' stake could be worth about $3.4 million (£2.6 million), potentially rising to $27.85 million (£21 million) in four years.

The tribunal said the £76 million figure was “highly unusual” but could not conclude at this stage that Burns’ valuation had little reasonable prospect of success.

A full compensation hearing will take place at a later date, pending Gitpod’s appeal of the earlier tribunal ruling.

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