A former Atlassian software engineer is suing the Australian technology giant, alleging she was illegally fired after criticising its billionaire CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes.

Denise Unterwurzacher joined Atlassian in 2012 but was fired in June 2023 while working in the United States, just days after allegedly making negative comments about Cannon-Brookes over a company restructure and how he talked to employees.

She reportedly made the remarks in an internal Slack messaging channel following an ‘Ask Me Anything’ video call involving Cannon-Brookes, who joined the meeting from the headquarters of the Utah Jazz basketball team, which he owns a minority stake in.

Unterwurzacher reportedly parodied the CEO on Slack, writing, “What’s up Outragers, just dialing in from my NBA team’s headquarters to yell at the people whose careers I’ve just pummeled.”

Atlassian reportedly fired her days later and claimed she had “engaged in acrimonious communications and ad hominem attacks against teammates and colleagues”.

An ad hominem argument (Latin for ‘to the person’) refers to attacking an individual, rather than the substance of their argument.

During a hearing in Austin, Texas on 3 March 2026, an attorney for America’s independent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) argued Unterwurzacher had acted in the spirit of Atlassian’s “Open company, no bullshit” policy, Bloomberg reported.

NLRB attorney Colton Puckett reportedly told agency judge Susannah Merritt that allowing Atlassian to fire Unterwurzacher “would upend well-established principles” under US law, including employees being allowed to discuss and protest their working conditions.

Puckett also reportedly alleged Cannon-Brookes had “angrily” interjected during the company meeting “to tell off the people who were complaining”, after some employees questioned the accuracy of comments by Atlassian executives who said only a small number of jobs would be lost.

Atlassian lawyers suggest staffer intimated CEO was ‘rich jerk’

Atlassian attorney Troy Valdez reportedly told the hearing that the company had the right to fire Unterwurzacher over her comments, as they were not legally protected under US law.

“While employees are encouraged to speak up about workplace issues, they must do so in a manner that remains professional and respectful, as the law does not protect conduct that is abusive or gratuitously insulting,” he said, according to Bloomberg.

“Just because it was a CEO doesn’t excuse the conduct.”

“… It was an irrelevant personal attack and insult directed at a colleague, essentially calling him a ‘rich jerk’.”

Unterwurzacher reportedly denied that allegation in an email to Bloomberg.

“My goal has always been to support my coworkers and to encourage leadership to approach these changes, and the ways they are communicated, with greater understanding and empathy,” she allegedly wrote.


Denise Unterwurzacher appeared in interviews on Atlassian's 'Tech TV' YouTube channel in 2016. Image: Atlassian Tech TV / YouTube

Unterwurzacher was reportedly asked by Atlassian’s lawyers during cross-examination whether she felt she needed to “engage in an ad hominem attack” to openly discuss wages, compensation, or working conditions.

The former staffer reportedly replied, “I think it’s difficult to point out the power imbalance in a way that is not potentially described by somebody as an ad hominem attack.”

While Atlassian and Unterwurzacher have allegedly held settlement talks, Justice Merritt is expected to make a ruling if a resolution between the two parties cannot be reached.

The NLRB can order companies to rehire employees and pay them lost wages, but Merritt reportedly told the latest hearing that any ruling could potentially be appealed.

An Atlassian spokesperson told Information Age the company would not provide a comment on individual employee matters.

‘Everybody here lives the values’

Unterwurzacher appeared in several promotional articles and videos for Atlassian during her time at the company.

In a blog post published in 2019 about Atlassian’s focus on “a culture of transparency”, she was quoted as saying the company’s approach to so-called ‘open-work’ had left a “pretty amazing” first impression on her.

“Compared to other places I’ve worked, where management says one thing and behaves in a totally different way, it was really striking,” she said at the time.

The post contained an image showing Atlassian’s values, including the ‘Open company, no bullshit’ mantra.

“Everybody here lives the values, from the CEO all the way down,” Unterwurzacher was quoted as saying.

Cannon-Brookes used a video message to staff earlier this month to announce plans to cut 1,600 jobs, or around 10 per cent of Atlassian’s global workforce, “to self-fund further investment in AI and enterprise sales”.