Mike Cannon-Brookes, the Australian tech magnate, finds himself embroiled in a legal controversy following the dismissal of an employee who criticized him as a “rich jerk.” This incident has spotlighted the tension within Atlassian, the company he co-founded.

Denise Unterwurzacher, formerly a software engineer at Atlassian’s U.S. branch, was let go in June 2023. Her termination came shortly after she voiced concerns to colleagues regarding the company’s “re-levelling” initiative, which resulted in job cuts.

During an internal “Ask Me Anything” session conducted via video call, Cannon-Brookes, then co-CEO, addressed questions about the restructuring plan. Unterwurzacher seized this opportunity to communicate with colleagues through Atlassian’s Slack channel, known as “Outrage Notification.”

Notably, Cannon-Brookes participated in the meeting from the Utah Jazz basketball team’s headquarters, a franchise he co-owns. Unterwurzacher commented, “What’s up Outragers, just dialling in from my NBA team’s headquarters to yell at the people whose careers I’ve just pummelled,” highlighting the perceived disconnect between the executive’s lifestyle and the staff’s anxieties.

In response, Atlassian, which promotes a culture of transparency with its motto “Open company, no bulls***,” terminated Unterwurzacher’s employment. The company cited her involvement in “acrimonious communications and ad hominem attacks against teammates and colleagues” as the grounds for her dismissal.

Atlassian, which has a publicly stated philosophy of ‘Open company, no bulls***’, fired Ms Unterwurzacher a few days later, stating she had ‘engaged in acrimonious communications and ad hominem attacks against teammates and colleagues.’

Ms Unterwurzacher has now taken her former employer to the US National Labor Relations Board and claims she was ‘illegally fired’ after speaking her mind about workplace issues.

During a March 3 hearing in Austin, Texas, NLRB attorney Colton Puckett told an agency judge that employees are allowed to collectively discuss and protest their working conditions, adding, ‘and they’re allowed to do so in ways their bosses might not like.’

Former Atlassian software engineer, Denise Unterwurzacher, said she was illegally fired after talking about workplace issues (pictured on Atlassian’s Youtube channel)

She messaged her colleagues about Atlassian’s co-CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes after he spoke about plans to ‘re-level’ the company

‘Employees disagreed in the chat, which resulted in Cannon-Brookes angrily interjecting to tell off the people who were complaining,’ Mr Puckett said, according to a transcript obtained by Bloomberg via a Freedom of Information Act request.

However Atlassian argued that, while employees are ‘encouraged to speak up about wokrplace issues’, Ms Unterwurzacher’s comments were not legally protected.

‘Just because it was a CEO doesn’t excuse the conduct,’ Atlassian’s attorney, Troy Valdez, said. ‘It was an irrelevant personal attack and insult directed at a colleague, essentially calling him a ‘rich jerk’.

If the board finds Ms Unterwurzacher was illegally fired, Atlassian could be forced to reinstate her.

While the NLRB judge considers the case, footage of Ms Unterwurzacher talking proudly about being a women in tech remains on Atlassian’s social media pages.

A quick glance at the company’s online presence reveals Ms Unterwurzacher has regularly championed in their marketing blogs and videos.

In a blog post, Atlassian described her as a ‘developer at heart’, after joining the company in 2012 as a technical support engineer.

In two 20-minute videos posted on Atlassian Tech TV’s Youtube channel, Ms Unterwurzacher was interviewed about her experience working at Atlassian and how tech companies can make women feel more included.

Cannon-Brookes fired more than 1,600 Atlassian workers via email this month, 30 per cent of which are based in Australia (pictured is the Atlassian’s Sydney office)

‘I think the more that we can make technology an inviting place for women, the more women we’ll actually have in technology and the better things we’ll get,’ she said.

‘At Atlassian, we’re making software to advance humanity and we can’t do that if we’re represented by, you know, thirty-something white male gamers.’

News of Ms Unterwurzacher’s legal battle comes just days after Cannon-Brookes  fired more than 1,600 Atlassian workers via email.

He said artificial intelligence had affected ‘the mix of skills we need’ and ‘the number of roles required in certain areas’.

About 30 per cent of the sacked employees are based in Australia.

Workers hit by the cuts received emails within 20 minutes of Cannon-Brookes outlining the decision in a video message to staff.

‘This is an example of what “build with heart and balance” looks like in practice, doing the right thing for Atlassian while acting with humanity and doing the right thing for everyone affected by these decisions,’ he said.

Atlassian’s stock has tumbled 50 per cent since the start of 2026 and is now down 66 per cent year-on-year as investors fear AI could shrink corporate workforces – and demand for workplace software.