An American technology executive who was dismissed after sleeping in a sauna during a company trip has been granted the right to pursue a compensation claim of up to £76 million, potentially setting a new record for employment tribunal payouts in the United Kingdom.

Shannon Burns, who served as vice-president of engineering at Gitpod, a software company now owned by OpenAI, was terminated in June 2023 following an incident during a work trip to Austria in April of that year. According to accounts, Burns was unable to access her hotel room after forgetting her key and consequently spent the night in a sauna. Her dismissal came despite reports that several male colleagues had been intoxicated during the trip, a point Burns highlighted in arguing that she was the only one terminated in the wake of the incident.

Burns, who has been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), successfully challenged her firing on grounds of disability discrimination before the Birmingham Employment Tribunal last year. The tribunal ruled that her dismissal was unlawful, and subsequently refused Gitpod’s request to require Burns to pay a £1,000 deposit to pursue damages. This ruling allows her to formally seek £76,071,992 in compensation, which is based on a detailed schedule of loss projecting her potential future earnings had she remained employed.

Burns had earned a base salary of £220,000 with an annual bonus of £78,000 at the time of her dismissal. The tribunal noted that she held 0.85 percent of Gitpod’s shares, which may be worth approximately £2.6 million following the company’s acquisition by OpenAI, potentially rising to £21 million over four years. OpenAI reportedly acquired Gitpod for about £302 million.

Gitpod has challenged the size of Burns’s claim, describing it as “extraordinary” and dismissing the compensation arguments as “palpable nonsense.” The company has also appealed the original tribunal decision. Employment Judge Rachel Wedderspoon highlighted Burns’s strong remuneration history and accepted her assertion that she was on track to maintain a highly lucrative career if not for the alleged discriminatory treatment.

Tara Grossman, an employment lawyer representing Burns, criticised Gitpod’s attempt to reduce the claim to £1 million through a so-called “deposit order,” calling the move “oppressive.”

A full hearing to determine the compensation amount is scheduled for a future date, pending the outcome of Gitpod’s appeal. The case remains under close observation as a potential precedent in employment law and disability discrimination claims involving high-value compensation packages.