A tech executive who said she had to resort to sleeping in a sauna room during a work trip has explained how she’s suing her former company for a record-breaking sum.

Shannon Burns was sacked by German software firm Gitpod after the tech boss from Boston ended up losing the key to her bedroom following a work team-building exercise and drinks party.

The former vice-president of engineering, who suffers from ADHD, was dismissed after being accused of having ‘got too drunk and fallen asleep in the sauna room’.

‘I tried very hard to give them the benefit of the doubt, I tried to help them learn and recognise that the effects of their unconscious bias were illegal,’ she told The Times.

Ms Burns has now justified her claim of £76,000,000 against her former company, which moved a step forward after a judge accepted her case on the grounds of her disability.

Another claim of sexual discrimination was thrown out, however, with the accusation of a ‘lack of professionalism’ deemed to be unrelated to her gender.

Ms Burns, who was on a salary of £220,000 on top of an annual bonus of £78,000, claims her £76,000,000 figure is based upon her potential lost earnings as a result of her dismissal.

She said she was attracted to Gitpod, by which she was headhunted, in part because of its commitment to providing a ‘thoughtful, inclusive space’ to employees.

The 37-year-old entered the coding firm with a decade of experience in Silicon Valley, at companies including Slack and Lyft.

When she started, the former tech boss had asked the company for an ADHD coach due to a ‘worrying level of anxiety’ over her workload, but was allegedly questioned about the potential costings and told her to look into it herself – something she said was unhelpful.

‘I was communicating that I needed help due to the overwhelm I was experiencing as a result of my disabilities, specifically referencing my ADHD, and she responded by giving me more work to do.’

Ms Burns told the Times she was then ‘blindsided’ by the firm when it told her she required an ‘unexpected’ level of ‘support and mentorship’ for someone of her position.

Countering claims she behaved drunk and was crying at the drinks event in Lofer, Austria, Ms Burns said this was a reaction to being criticised by her boss and company founder, Johannes Landgraf, in front of colleagues.

‘I had been asked to work 16-hour days for three days nonstop with very little sleep because of the schedule that we had to do’, she said.

Her ADHD contributed to a ‘great deal of forgetfulness’, which was a factor in her forgetting the keys to her hotel room when she attended the work function, judge Rachel Wedderspoon accepted.

Ms Burns’ asking amount would break records by quite some way for the highest figure awarded at a UK employment tribunal.

Ms Burns said the latest ruling was ‘incredibly validating’ and said said she was forced to accept a job ‘six levels’ below her role at Gitpod after applying for hundreds of vacancies.

However, she claims she since left the post within a year after her mental health suffered from the fallout at Gitpod.

Judge Wedderspoon said OpenAI had acquired Gitpod for an estimated to $400,000,000 (£302,000,000).

Ms Burns had 0.85% shares in Gitpod, which could be worth $3,400,000 (£2,600,000) now and $27,850,000 (£21,000,000) in four years if the company was acquired for that amount.

Judge Wedderspoon said: ‘The Tribunal finds that an award in the sum claimed by [Ms Burns] is highly unusual and the sort of award that may be more commonplace awarded in the US jurisdiction.

‘However, the Tribunal cannot say at a summary assessment in the absence of an employment renumeration expert report or an expert medical information that [her] valuation has little reasonable prospect of success.’

A full compensation hearing is to be held at a later date, pending an appeal of the previous tribunal hearing.

Gitpod has been contacted for comment.

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