Sexism row after ‘drunk' female executive sacked from £220k job
A female executive is suing a company for sex discrimination after she was sacked from her £220,000 a year job for being drunk, an employment tribunal has heard.
Shannon Burns claims her employer dismissed her but took no action against other senior male figures who were also drinking and behaving in a way that was 'far more damaging'.
The engineer is suing Gitpod, a software company, for sex discrimination after complaining of the rampant 'tech bro' culture at the 'male-dominated' firm.
Ms Burns was headhunted for a senior role at Gitpod, which she took on with the promise of a six-figure salary and an equity package potentially worth more than £30 million, the hearing was told.
However, soon after starting, issues emerged for Ms Burns – who has ADHD and dyslexia – as she became aware of the problematic culture at company, it was heard.
The executive claims she was sacked after she drank alcoholic shots with her boss, lost her hotel room key and allegedly had to spend the night in a suite-like room with a sauna.
This was despite other senior male figures – including Johannes Landgraf, the chief executive – also being 'far more intoxicated' and facing no punishment.
The tribunal, held in Birmingham, heard that after starting in January 2023, American Ms Burns started to hear from multiple women that Mr Landgraf had a reputation of being a 'tech bro who liked to surround himself with fellow tech bros'.
Ms Burns explained that 'tech bro' was a stereotype term referring to 'mostly younger white men' who 'embody aggressive, entitled, self-aggrandising, risk takers'.
Ms Burns said that other female executives had highlighted the 'problematic male-dominated culture' within the leadership team on 'multiple occasions'.
The executive attended a 'hackathon' event in Austria in April 2023 and she told the tribunal that she was 'excited' to meet her colleagues, who all work remotely in 14 countries.
It was heard that on the evening of April 5, during the event, she and Mr Landgraf were both at a bar when he offered her a 'shot of liquor'.
She told the tribunal that he appeared to have had 'several drinks' and was 'slurring his words and struggling to stand'.
Ms Burns said she was invited to partake in a 'game' which involved asking 'difficult' questions to one another about work.
The panel heard that he referred to the hackathon and asked a 'mortified' Ms Burns for the identity of engineers who had confided in her around their fears surrounding it.
The employee said she was 'appalled' by the behaviour of the chief executive who was 'so intoxicated and inappropriate that he could not recognise the damage he had just done by shouting these words over the blaring music at the bar, within earshot of the people he was talking about'.
Ms Burns told the tribunal: 'By the end of the evening, I was intoxicated but by no means more so than either Johannes or other male colleagues who were consuming alcohol.'
It was heard that at the end of the evening, Ms Burns had to spend the night in a suite-like room – which she said had a sauna in it – after she was locked out of her hotel room.
The next day, she received a message from a senior male executive who said that he had heard comments that Ms Burns had 'got too drunk and slept in the sauna room'.
In June 2023, Ms Burns was 'unexpectedly' called into a meeting with two executives who told her that her employment at Gitpod was being terminated with immediate effect.
Immediately after her dismissal, Mr Landgraf and other senior figures held meetings with Ms Burns's direct reports in which they told her that she had been sacked for 'performance issues and for being drunk at the off-site'.
Bringing her claims to the tribunal, she said: 'My male colleagues were drinking alcohol/drunk at the offsite but I was the only one who was dismissed.
'One of my male colleagues [Johannes] behaved in a far more damaging way for both his own reputation and for Gitpod after 'consuming alcohol' at the offsite.'
Ms Burns is also suing for disability discrimination as she believes her dismissal arose from her ADHD.
Gitpod denies that she was fired for being drunk and say it was unaware of her disabilities.
The hearing continues.
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