A former vice president of engineering at Gitpod, earning £220,000 annually, continues to await compensation after an employment tribunal ruled her dismissal stemmed from disability discrimination linked to ADHD. The company has filed an appeal, delaying any payout despite confirmations from medical professionals and the judge.
Incident During Company Offsite
Shannon Burns, an American engineer previously with Slack, joined Gitpod in late 2022 as VP of Engineering on a £200,000 salary plus a £78,000 annual bonus and significant equity potential exceeding £30 million. Diagnosed with ADHD in 2015, she experienced frequent forgetfulness, often misplacing keys and her phone.
In February 2023, Ms Burns requested an ADHD coach from the head of people, citing overwhelming workload and anxiety. Performance concerns arose in March regarding adaptation to asynchronous work. During an April offsite in Lofer, Austria, she consumed alcohol, exacerbating her impairments. Locked out of her room after her roommate fell asleep, Ms Burns slept in the sauna—a repeat incident from earlier in the trip.
CEO Johannes Landgraf drank that evening but showed no signs of intoxication. Post-event, concerns mounted over Ms Burns’s professional accountability.
Tribunal Ruling on Discrimination
Dismissed in June 2023, Ms Burns claimed disability and sex discrimination. Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon ruled her ADHD constituted a disability, contributing to the forgetfulness that led to the lockout. The judge noted alcohol played a role but linked the disorganization to ADHD features.
The tribunal rejected claims of unequal treatment based on gender, as male colleagues faced no discipline despite heavier drinking, but upheld disability discrimination. Ms Burns stated male colleagues, including the CEO, behaved more disruptively without repercussions.
Ongoing Appeal and Delayed Compensation
Gitpod, now known as Ona, appeals the ruling and challenges the ADHD disability finding. A hearing on May 8 seeks to postpone the September compensation assessment until March next year.
Her lawyer, Tara Grossman, described the appeal as desperate: “This is ridiculous. It’s been almost three years since Shannon was unlawfully fired and she is nowhere near receiving a penny.” She added, “Two medical professionals and a judge have confirmed her condition.”
Ms Grossman criticized the delay as an attempt to prolong litigation against a disabled individual, stating, “Gitpod didn’t just take Shannon’s job, they took the career and identity she had spent a decade building.”
Lasting Impact on Career and Health
Three years post-dismissal, Ms Burns battles PTSD and has exited the tech sector, unable to secure comparable roles. She now retrains in a lower-paying field. Ms Grossman noted Ms Burns’s rapid rise: “In 10 years she had achieved what many tech engineers take a lifetime to achieve.”
