{
  "id": 9741718,
  "title": "'My Male Colleagues Were Drinking Too, But I Was The Only One Dismissed': Sacked Tech VP Could Win Record £76m Payout",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/25/my-male-colleagues-were-drinking-too-but-i-was-the-only-one-dismissed",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-09-25T09:11:51.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Press Journal",
    "slug": "free-press-journal",
    "url": "https://www.freepressjournal.in/tech/my-male-colleagues-were-drinking-too-but-i-was-the-only-one-dismissed-sacked-tech-vp-could-win-record-76m-payout"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Shannon Burns, a former vice-president of engineering who suffers from ADHD, has taken a significant step forward in her fight for a potentially record-breaking £76 million payout after being dismissed from Gitpod, a software company now owned by OpenAI. The incident that sparked her dismissal occurred during a company retreat in Lofer, Austria, where several employees, including the CEO, had been drinking. Burns, who also consumed alcohol that evening, accidentally locked herself out of her room after losing her key, leading her to spend the night in the hotel sauna.\n\nBurns' dismissal was upheld by the Birmingham Employment Tribunal in 2025, ruling that her termination was due to her disability. Despite male colleagues also drinking that night, Burns was singled out, and her job was terminated. Since the incident, Burns has developed PTSD and has left the tech sector, now working as a therapist.\n\nGitpod attempted to limit Burns' potential compensation to £1 million by applying for a deposit order. However, Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon rejected this application, acknowledging that Burns' high earning history meant her claim could not be dismissed without further expert evidence. The judge noted that an award of this scale would be unusual in the UK but could not be ruled out at this stage.\n\nBurns' shares in Gitpod, estimated at around $3.4 million (£2.6 million) based on her 0.85% stake, could potentially rise to $27.85 million (£21 million) over four years. If successful, Burns' case would surpass the current UK record for an employment tribunal award of £4.58 million. Her employment lawyer, Tara Grossman, welcomed the tribunal's decision, calling Gitpod's tactics to cap the claim \"oppressive\" and emphasizing the detailed calculation of Burns' lost earning potential in the industry known for high compensation.",
  "summary": "A former vice-president of engineering who was sacked after sleeping in a hotel sauna during a company retreat has cleared a major legal hurdle in her bid for what could become the largest employment tribunal payout in British history. The incident that led to her dismissal Shannon Burns, who has ADHD, was let go from Gitpod, a software company since acquired by OpenAI in June 2023, months after…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}