A senior technology executive in the UK, Shannon Burns, is pursuing a landmark £76 million (approximately ₹964 crore) compensation claim after being dismissed from her role as Vice-President of engineering at Gitpod, a software firm now owned by OpenAI. Her dismissal followed an incident during a 2023 company retreat in Austria where she was found sleeping in a sauna.
According to reports, Burns became intoxicated during the retreat, subsequently lost her room key, and ended up falling asleep in a sauna. The company later terminated her employment.
However, the Birmingham Employment Tribunal ruled in 2025 that her dismissal constituted disability discrimination. The tribunal noted that Burns has ADHD and that Gitpod failed to make reasonable adjustments for her condition, contributing to the circumstances that led to her firing.
The Staggering Compensation Claim
Following the tribunal's finding of discrimination, Burns filed a compensation claim for £76,071,992. This substantial figure is based on forensic estimates of her lost future earnings, compensation for injury to feelings, and an uplift due to the employer's unreasonable failure to follow proper procedures in her dismissal.
Gitpod attempted to cap the potential award at £1 million and requested a £1,000 deposit for Burns to pursue any amount above that. However, Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon rejected this application, allowing Burns to formally seek the full £76 million.
Why Such a Large Figure?
It is crucial to understand that the £76 million is not a final award but the maximum amount Burns is permitted to pursue at a separate remedy hearing. During this hearing, the tribunal will ultimately decide the actual payout. Her legal team contends that, given her senior position in the high-paying tech sector, her career trajectory would have generated tens of millions in earnings over time. They argue that the discrimination effectively ended her career in technology, also contributing to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and forcing her out of the industry.
If ultimately granted, this sum would significantly surpass the largest known UK employment tribunal award to date, which was approximately £4.58 million (around ₹50 crores). The case has garnered considerable attention not only for its unusual circumstances but also for the critical disability discrimination angle and the sheer scale of the claim against a company now under the ownership of OpenAI.