Archive · 25 Sep 2026
Former Gitpod Executive Clears Hurdle for Record Disability Claim
Shannon Burns was a senior technology manager at Gitpod.
She has ADHD, which can contribute to forgetfulness and losing things.
During a work trip in Austria, she had been drinking and could not get into her room after losing or forgetting her key.
She slept in a hotel sauna that night.
Gitpod later fired her, saying it was concerned about her professional responsibility.
A tribunal decided that her disability had contributed to the dismissal.
Burns says she lost a large amount of future pay and company shares because she was fired.
A judge has allowed her to continue seeking compensation, but she has not been awarded the money yet.
Reports give different descriptions of the claim’s value, including approximately Rs 9,637 crore and £76 million.
Shannon Burns, a former Gitpod vice-president of engineering with ADHD, was dismissed after sleeping in a sauna during a 2023 work trip in Austria.
The Birmingham Employment Tribunal ruled in 2025 that Burns was dismissed because of her disabilities.
Burns is pursuing compensation based on lost salary, equity, injury to feelings and an ACAS uplift; reports describe the claim as approximately Rs 9,637 crore or £76 million.
Gitpod sought to restrict the claim to about £1 million, or approximately Rs 12.68 crore, calling the larger valuation extraordinary and “palpable nonsense.”
Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon rejected Gitpod’s application, saying expert evidence was needed before the unusually high valuation could be dismissed.
- Who
- Shannon Burns, former Gitpod vice-president of engineering, and Gitpod, whose CEO was Johannes Landgraf.
- What
- Burns cleared a legal hurdle in pursuing a disability discrimination compensation claim after a tribunal found her dismissal resulted from her disabilities.
- When
- The work trip took place in April 2023, Burns was dismissed in June 2023, and the discrimination ruling was issued in 2025; the later compensation hearing rejected Gitpod’s application to limit the claim.
- Where
- The incident occurred during a team-building event in Lofer, Austria, and the case was heard by the Birmingham Employment Tribunal.
- Why
- Burns says her dismissal caused substantial losses in future salary and equity because it was connected to her disabilities.
Burns’s Position
Gitpod’s Position
Reason for dismissal
Burns’s Position
Burns argued that she was singled out and dismissed because of her disability, despite male colleagues also drinking during the work trip.
Gitpod’s Position
Gitpod’s CEO cited concerns about Burns’s “lack of professional accountability” after the incident.
Size of compensation claim
Burns’s Position
Burns says the claim reflects lost future salary and equity that she could have earned if she had not been dismissed because of her disabilities.
Gitpod’s Position
Gitpod described the claim as extraordinary and called the calculations “palpable nonsense,” arguing that any amount above its proposed limit had little reasonable prospect of success.
Company equity valuation
Burns’s Position
Burns’s claim includes the value of her 0.85 per cent Gitpod stake and possible future losses.
Gitpod’s Position
Gitpod challenged the unusually high valuation; its lawyers also sought to limit the proceedings, while Burns’s lawyer accused the company of using oppressive tactics and withholding the actual sale value.
- Claimant
- Shannon Burns, who has ADHD
- Former employer
- Gitpod
- Former role
- Vice-president of engineering
- Claim valuation
- Reports describe it as approximately Rs 9,637 crore or £76 million; one article’s body also refers only to Rs 9,637
- Gitpod’s proposed limit
- About £1 million, or approximately Rs 12.68 crore
- Gitpod shareholding
- Burns held 0.85 per cent of the company
- Potential share value
- The tribunal heard estimates of roughly £2.6 million currently and £21 million in four years under an acquisition scenario
- UK employment tribunal record
- The reported current record is £4.58 million
