Tech executive fired for sleeping in sauna during work trip in line for ₹964 crore payout
Shannon Burns, former vice president of engineering at Gitpod, was dismissed from her £220,000-a-year (around ₹2.7 crore) role in June 2023.
Former Gitpod vice president Shannon Burns has been awarded the right to seek up to £76 million (around ₹964 crore) in compensation after sleeping in a sauna during a work trip. The amount could be the largest payout in British employment tribunal history. Burns was dismissed in June 2023 after an incident during a team-building trip to Austria, where she slept in the sauna due to forgetting her room key.
Gitpod, owned by OpenAI, had tried to limit Burns' potential compensation to £1 million, but the Birmingham Employment Tribunal rejected their application. The judge acknowledged Burns' high pay history and the possibility of her continuing to earn a substantial salary in the tech industry. Burns, who has ADHD and PTSD, is now leaving the tech industry for good.
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