UK Techie Fired For Sleeping In Sauna On Work Trip Wants Rs 964 Crore Compensation

A senior technology executive dismissed from her firm after she fell asleep in a sauna during a boozy work trip is seeking a massive Rs 964 crore payout. The amount could become the largest payout ever awarded by a British employment tribunal, according to Independent. 

Shannon Burns, who has ADHD, was working as vice-president of engineering at Gitpod when she attended a team-building event in Lofer, Austria, in April 2023. During the trip, she had been drinking alcohol and could not access her room after forgetting her key. She had to sleep in a sauna that night.

After the trip, Gitpod CEO Johannes Landgraf said he was concerned about her lack of professional accountability. Burns was dismissed from her role in June 2023.

According to Grok, this is the profile she was using when she was associated with Gitpod: @karishannon. Her bio previously mentioned her role as VP of Engineering at Gitpod.

In 2025, the Birmingham Employment Tribunal found that Burns was dismissed as a result of her disabilities, and she won her disability discrimination case. She is now seeking around Rs 964 crore in compensation based on calculations of her lost future earnings.

Gitpod had applied to restrict her claim to Rs 12.68 crore and sought a Rs 1.27 lakh deposit order, arguing that any claim above Rs 12.68 crore had little reasonable prospect of success. The company described her Rs 964 crore claim as extraordinary and called the calculations "palpable nonsense".

Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon dismissed the application. She said Burns had an exceptionally high pay history and that her claim included losses from salary and equity.

The tribunal heard that Burns had 0.85 per cent shares in Gitpod. Judge Wedderspoon said the shares could be worth Rs 32.61 crore now and Rs 267.13 crore in four years if Gitpod was acquired for Rs 3,836.76 crore by OpenAI.

The tribunal said the amount claimed was highly unusual but could not conclude that Burns' valuation had little reasonable prospect of success without expert evidence.

Burns is also claiming amounts for injury to feelings and an ACAS Uplift. She has since left the tech industry and is retraining to become a therapist.