NLRB judge finds Atlassian broke labour law in sacking outspoken engineer
A United States labour judge has ordered Atlassian to reinstate an engineer it dismissed in 2023, ruling the Sydney-based software company violated federal labour law when it fired her over a series of confrontational Slack messages aimed at co-founder Mike Cannon-Brookes.
Denise Unterwurzacher, who worked as an engineer at Atlassian until June 2023, was dismissed after clashing with company leadership over a restructuring that included managerial changes and the threat of job cuts, The Australian reported.
The dispute escalated during a company-wide "ask me anything" town hall in June 2023, where Cannon-Brookes and then-chief technology officer Rajeev Rajan were fielding questions on the changes.
According to the report, Cannon-Brookes told attendees pushing back on the changes to "go somewhere else" if they wanted to "nark," using an Australian term the judgment described as referring to someone "overly frustrated and annoyed, often in situations where you have no right to be."
Unterwurzacher then posted a message referencing unverified claims that Cannon-Brookes had dialled into the meeting from the headquarters of the Utah Jazz, the NBA team he part-owns, writing: "What's up Outragers? Just dialling in from my NBA team's headquarters to yell at the people whose careers I've just pummelled, wyd?"
Was it protected activity?
US National Labor Relations Board Administrative Law Judge Susannah Merritt found Atlassian had terminated Unterwurzacher for her "protected concerted activity."
It cited the company's own communications to her at the time of dismissal, noting a "pattern of acrimonious communications for which she had been coached."
Atlassian had argued the comment crossed a line by personally targeting Cannon-Brookes rather than criticising the substance of the restructuring.
Company attorney Troy Valdez earlier told the tribunal that the remark amounted to "an irrelevant personal attack and insult directed at a colleague, essentially calling him a 'rich jerk,'" according to a March report by Canadian HR Reporter, which cited a court transcript obtained by Bloomberg.
The Australian reported that Judge Merritt found Atlassian had failed to produce evidence that other employees who posted similar comments in the same chat that day were disciplined or terminated.
Other staff comments referenced in the judgment included jibes about Cannon-Brookes' wealth and side ventures, including his delayed $30 billion SunCable project.
Atlassian confirmed it was aware of the ruling but declined to comment further, The Australian reported.
"We believe in upholding our company values and community guidelines to ensure our workplace is safe and respectful for all. As the matter remains ongoing, it would be inappropriate to comment further," a company spokesperson told the news outlet.
