A senior British software executive who was sacked after allegedly becoming so intoxicated she slept in a sauna during a work trip has won a disability discrimination claim over her ADHD.
Shannon Burns, formerly vice president of engineering at German tech company Gitpod, brought claims of sex and disability discrimination against the firm following her dismissal in 2023. While her sex discrimination claim was dismissed, an employment tribunal upheld her claim of discrimination arising from disability.
The tribunal found that symptoms related to her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) contributed to the incident at a company off-site event in Austria. Burns had been drinking with colleagues and was later found asleep in the sauna after failing to access her hotel room.
The judge ruled that Gitpod had treated Burns unfavourably in connection with her disability and that forgetfulness, a symptom of ADHD, played a role in the incident. A separate hearing to determine compensation will be held later.
Former Slack engineer claimed bias in male-dominated workplace
Burns, who previously held a senior role at workplace messaging firm Slack, joined Gitpod UK in late 2022, on a salary of £220,000. Gitpod, which offers open-source development environments for software engineers, operates a remote-first model with staff across Europe and the US.
The tribunal heard that Burns had requested support for her ADHD in early 2023, including access to a coach, after reporting high anxiety and feeling overwhelmed in her new role. Concerns about her performance were raised shortly afterwards by senior Gitpod figures, including chief executive Johannes Landgraf.
Landgraf later cited her “lack of professional accountability” and said her behaviour was “incompatible with executive responsibility”. He was unaware of her disability at the time, according to tribunal findings.
At the Austrian team-building event in April 2023, Burns consumed what the judge described as “quite a lot” of alcohol and became emotional. She lost her room key, was unable to wake her roommate and eventually slept in the sauna.
Afterwards, a senior male colleague told her she needed to “lead the team by example” and referred to staff saying she had “got too drunk and fallen asleep in the sauna room”. Burns was dismissed the following month.
In her witness statement, Burns said male colleagues had been more intoxicated but were not penalised. She also described a “tech bro culture” at the company.
Tribunal: symptoms of ADHD were a contributing factor
Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon ruled that Gitpod’s treatment of Burns following the incident amounted to discrimination arising from disability. The judge said forgetfulness and disorganisation were recognised symptoms of ADHD and had contributed to the incident.
“Insofar as [Burns] was criticised for being locked out in the evening, the tribunal finds that this was likely in part to be as a result of the combination of her alcohol consumption and her forgetfulness, which is something arising from her disability of ADHD,” she said.
But the tribunal dismissed the sex discrimination element of her claim, concluding that Burns’s conduct was unrelated to her gender. “She displayed a lack of professionalism, namely lack of executive presence as vice president. That had nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that [Burns] is a woman,” the judge said.
Gitpod has not commented on the ruling.
A separate hearing will decide the level of compensation owed to Burns.
