Female exec fired by ‘tech bros’ from £220,000 job after sleeping in a sauna during drunken night out

A high-flying female executive who was sacked from her six-figure job at a company run by ‘tech bros’ after spending a night in a sauna during a drunken business trip is still waiting for the compensation she is owed.

Shannon Burns – who earned £220,000 a year – will receive “almost not a cent” because the tech company she successfully sued has launched a “desperate” appeal, her lawyer said.

In addition to appealing last year’s ruling, Gitpod – led by ‘tech bros’ – is also questioning whether Ms Burns actually has ADHD, despite having medical diagnoses.

Ms Burns’ life was ‘destroyed’ when she was diagnosed with PTSD in the aftermath of losing her job three years ago and had to leave the tech industry altogether as a result of the discrimination.

An employment tribunal judge previously ruled that the director had ADHD and that this contributed to her forgetting her keys during a drunken work trip abroad – which led to her spending the night in a sauna.

She was dismissed for her behavior at the off-site event, despite her claims that male colleagues were ‘much more drunk’ and received no punishment.

The engineer was headhunted for a senior role at Gitpod, which she took on with the promise of a six-figure salary and a share package potentially worth more than £30 million, the hearing was told.

Employment judge Rachel Wedderspoon ruled that she experienced ‘a lot of forgetfulness’ as a result of her ADHD and that Ms Burns was eligible for compensation.

However, her former employer Gitpod is now appealing against the tribunal’s finding that it discriminated against her.

It also argues against the judge’s finding that Ms. Burns was disabled due to ADHD, according to Ms. Burns’ attorney, Tara Grossman.

Ms Grossman said: ‘This is ridiculous. It’s been almost three years since Shannon was, we say, wrongfully dismissed and she hasn’t received a cent.”

Gitpod will argue at a hearing on May 8 that the damages hearing due to take place in September should be postponed until after their appeals are heard in March next year.

“This is despite two medical professionals and a judge confirming her condition,” Ms Grossman said.

She continued: ‘In my opinion, Gitpod (now known as Ona) by appealing against the disability scheme shows a clear act of desperation.

‘This is an employer trying to bring a lawsuit against a disabled person who has already had to endure years of legal proceedings.

‘This appeal is not about correcting legal errors (that’s what an appeal should be about). This is clearly about an over-resourced employer using the appeals process to delay accountability and inflict further damage on Shannon, whose lives have already been destroyed by their discrimination.

“When Gitpod hired Shannon as VP of Engineering, she excelled in her career. In ten years, she has achieved what many tech engineers take a lifetime to achieve – and many never do.

‘Subsequently, Gitpod dismissed her within six months for reasons that the tribunal found were rooted in disability discrimination. The consequences have been irreversibly damaging.”

Ms. Grossman added that Ms. Burns “has been unable to secure a similar role despite years of trying.”

“She has now had to leave the tech industry altogether and is retraining in a completely new, much less lucrative field,” she continued.

“Gitpod not only took Shannon’s job, but also the career and identity she spent ten years building.

‘Rather than accept responsibility, Gitpod is now appealing the verdict. Shannon will continue to vigorously defend that call.”

The original employment tribunal, held in Birmingham, was told Ms Burns was diagnosed with ADHD in 2015.

It was heard that the condition caused Ms Burns to experience ‘a lot of forgetfulness’ and to ‘constantly’ lose things such as her keys and phone.

American Ms Burns – who had previously worked for Slack in Silicon Valley – was headhunted by Gitpod in late 2022 and appointed to the key leadership role of Vice President of Engineering.

She was hired on a salary of £200,000, with a bonus of £78,000 per year.

In February 2023, Ms Burns contacted Gitpod’s head of people and requested an ADHD coach, as she felt “deeply overwhelmed” by her workload and was experiencing “worrying levels of anxiety”.

In March 2023, concerns were raised about Ms Burns’ performance, saying there was a ‘lack of progress’ and that she was ‘struggling to adapt to the asynchronous working style’.

In April 2023, Gitpod held a team-building event off-site in Lofer, Austria, and Ms Burns told the tribunal she was “excited” to meet her colleagues, who are all working remotely in 14 countries.

The judge said Ms Burns had accepted one evening that her ‘impairments were aggravated by the consumption of alcohol’.

Judge Wedderspoon ruled that CEO Johannes Landgraf had been drinking that same evening, but that he was not drunk.

That evening, Mrs. Burns returned to her room, only to find that the door was locked and she had no key to enter.

Her roommate had fallen asleep and Ms Burns – who had locked herself out of her room on another occasion during the trip – was unable to wake her, despite several attempts to call and message her.

The judge said Ms Burns eventually “gave up” and went to sleep in the sauna.

After the off-site event, Mr. Landgraf raised concerns about Ms. Burns’ “lack of professional responsibility” and behavior that was “incompatible with executive responsibility.”

In June, Ms Burns was invited to a meeting where she was dismissed.

During the conversation, she was told that the way she “showed up” at the remote location had “eroded trust in the leadership team.”

Ms Burns said in her witness statement: ‘My male colleagues were drinking alcohol/drinking at the off site but I was the only one who was dismissed.

‘One of my male colleagues [Johannes] “behaved in a much more damaging manner to both his own reputation and Gitpod after ‘consuming alcohol’ at a remote location.”

She has brought claims of gender and disability discrimination before the tribunal.

Ms Burns complained about the “tech bro” culture at the company, but the judge said she did not accept the description as applicable to Gitpod.

The tribunal found that Ms Burns was dismissed as a result of her disability.

Upholding her disability discrimination claims, Judge Wedderspoon said: ‘[Ms Burns] had consumed quite a lot of alcohol one evening at the remote location when she was locked out of her room.

‘However, being disorganized and forgetful can be hallmarks of ADHD.

‘The Tribunal found that losing her keys at the first opportunity and being locked out was likely to arise from her forgetfulness, a characteristic of [Ms Burns’] ADHD.

‘However, drinking alcohol probably played a role in being locked out later in the evening…’

‘As far as [Ms Burns] was criticized for being left out at night. The tribunal found that this was likely in part due to the combination of her alcohol consumption and her forgetfulness, which stems from her disability, ADHD.’