A female tech exec who was sacked by an AI 'tech bro' firm after she fell asleep in the sauna on a boozy work trip could be in line for a massive £76million payout.
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she → sack → payout
Shannon Burns could be in line for the record sum of cash after she won a disability discrimination case against Gitpod - a company now owned by ChatGPT developers OpenAI - in 2025.
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she → win → 2025
The 'trailblazing' executive was headhunted for the software company and offered the six-figure salary and access to an equity package potentially worth over £30million, but said she soon realised the company was 'male dominated' and filled with 'tech bros'.
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company → headhunte → bros
Ms Burns was appointed as Gitpod's Vice President of Engineering in late 2022 but, less than a year later, she was sacked after she had to resort to sleeping in a sauna during a work trip to Lofer in Austria.
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she → appoint → Austria
Despite winning her case against the company, Ms Burns - who has developed PTSD after her sacking and has had to leave a career in tech for good - is still fighting to receive compensation.
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who → win → compensation
She claims that Gitpod have been using 'aggressive litigation tactics to drag out the process and wear her down'.
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Gitpod → claim → her
The former tech exec is seeking £76million based on 'forensic' calculations of what she could have earned in the highly-lucrative industry.
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she → seek → industry
Gitpod attempted to restrict the amount she could seek to £1million using a legal application described as 'oppressive' by her lawyers.
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she → attempt → lawyers
Shannon Burns (pictured) could be in line for the record sum of cash after she won a disability discrimination case against Gitpod - a company now owned by ChatGPT developers OpenAI - in 2025
Ms Burns was sacked after she had to resort to sleeping in a sauna during a work trip to Lofer in Austria
However, Birmingham Employment Tribunal has dismissed their application, meaning she can formally seek £76,071,992 compensation.
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she → picture → compensation
Gitpod has also been ordered to disclose to Ms Burns what the recent sale of the company to OpenAI was worth.
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sale → order → OpenAI
The company did not tell Ms Burns how much it was sold to OpenAI for even though she has shares in the firm, which are thought to be worth £2.6million alone and could rise to £21million after four years.
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which → tell → years
Currently, the biggest known award in UK Employment Tribunal history is £4.58million.
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award → know → history
Ms Burns, who is American, was seen as a 'trailblazer' in the tech industry who worked for Silicon Valley firms including Slack and Lyft.
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who → see → Slack
She was headhunted by Gitpod in late 2022 and appointed to the key leadership role of Vice President of Engineering, on a £220,000 salary with a £78,000 bonus per year.
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She → headhunte → year
Ms Burns - who has ADHD - went on an off-site team-building event in Lofer, Austria, in April 2023.
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who → have → April
CEO Johannes Landgraf and other staff drank alcohol during the trip and one evening Ms Burns, who had also been drinking, could not access her room as she forgot her key.
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she → drink → key
CEO Johannes Landgraf (pictured) said he was concerned about Ms Burns' 'lack of professional accountability' after she slept in the sauna
Her medical condition caused her to have a 'great deal of forgetfulness' and she would 'persistently' lose items.
That night she ended up having to sleep in a sauna and after the trip CEO Mr Landgraf said he was concerned about her 'lack of professional accountability'.
In June 2023, she was sacked, with Ms Burns saying 'My male colleagues were drinking alcohol/drunk at the offsite but I was the only one who was dismissed.'
Last year, Birmingham Employment Tribunal found that Ms Burns was dismissed as a result of her ADHD and she won a disability discrimination case.
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she → picture → case
Ms Burns seeks £76million and relies on calculations made in her 'schedule of loss' – which examines what she could have gone on to earn.
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she → seek → what
Because she earned such a huge salary and the tech industry is so lucrative, it is estimated that her total future losses are over £59million.
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losses → earn → 59million
The remainder of the £76million is made up of sums to cover injury to feelings and what is known as an ACAS Uplift.
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what → make → Uplift
At the latest Birmingham hearing, Gitpod applied to have her £76million schedule of loss capped at £1million.
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schedule → apply → 1million
Gitpod applied for the judge to enforce a 'deposit order' of £1,000 and as part of the order find that any claim worth more than £1million has 'little reasonable prospect of success'.
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claim → apply → success
The case was heard at the West Midlands Tribunal Centre in Birmingham (pictured)
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case → hear → Birmingham
In its application, Gitpod argued that Ms Burns's claim for over £76million was 'extraordinary', adding: 'The arguments set out in the [schedule of loss] are palpable nonsense.'
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arguments → argue → loss
Gitpod added: '[Gitpod] seeks an order that [Ms Burns] be ordered to pay a deposit of £1,000 to continue her claim for losses in excess of £1 million.'
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Burns → add → million
Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon dismissed the application.
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Wedderspoon → dismiss → application
Judge Wedderspoon said: '[Ms Burns] has an exceptionally high pay history....
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Burns → say → history
Her case is that but for the treatment she suffered at the hands of [Gitpod] she would have continued to have a highly lucrative career.
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she → suffer → career
[Her] schedule of loss is based on past and future predicted loss and she has included the amount for loss of salary but also loss of equity because if she had continued her career in this sector part of remuneration would have consisted of equity.'
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part → base → equity
Judge Wedderspoon said OpenAI has acquired Gitpod for a sum believed to be $400 million (£302 million).
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OpenAI → say → sum
The judge said since Ms Burns had 0.85 per cent shares in Gitpod, her shares could be worth $3.4 million (£2.6 million) now and $27.85 million (£21 million) in four years if the $400 million acquisition fee is true.
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fee → say → years
Judge Wedderspoon concluded: 'The Tribunal finds that an award in the sum claimed by [Ms Burns] is highly unusual and the sort of award that may be more commonplace awarded in the US jurisdiction.
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that → conclude → jurisdiction
However, the Tribunal cannot say at a summary assessment in the absence of an employment remuneration expert report or an expert medical information that [her] valuation has little reasonable prospect of success.'
Tara Grossman, an employment lawyer assisting Ms Burns, described the outcome of the hearing as a 'resounding success'.
She said: 'Shannon's £76 million schedule of loss is a forensic calculation of what she could very well have earned if she had not been dismissed by Gitpod due to her disabilities.
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she → say → disabilities
She was working in tech which is probably the most lucrative career of our time.
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which → work → time
She had already earned well over a £1 million in junior roles and when she joined Gitpod she was given a £220,000 annual salary and told her shares could be worth anywhere from $1.06 million to $27.85 million.'
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shares → earn → her
Ms Grossman added that she believes Gitpod is trying to use 'aggressive litigation tactics to drag out the process and wear [Ms Burns] down'.
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Gitpod → add → ]
A full compensation hearing will be held at a later date, pending Gitpod's appeal of the previous tribunal ruling.
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hearing → hold → ruling
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