Former Ethereum Foundation employee sues over firing linked to dispute over suicide pledge in mandate
Kayleen Fulton files suit against the foundation
Kayleen Fulton, a former Ethereum Foundation Protocol Support lead, has filed a lawsuit against Stiftung Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, and others. She alleges she was fired after disclosing a cancer diagnosis and organizing opposition to a so-called suicide pledge in a new mandate.
The Ethereum Foundation, often called the EF, supports work on the Ethereum network. Ethereum is a blockchain, which is a shared digital record system that many computers keep together.
Main claims in the lawsuit
- Fulton alleges she was fired after disclosing a cancer diagnosis and opposing a suicide pledge.
- She claims 79 employees voted to remove the pledge section from a draft mandate.
- A letter signed by 53 Protocol cluster members declined to affirm the mandate under coercion.
- Fulton says her employment was terminated after that letter was sent.
- The EF had not immediately responded to Protos for comment at the time of reporting.
What the draft mandate contained
In February of this year, the foundation distributed a draft of its new mandate to employees, according to the lawsuit report. The document included a so-called Source Seppuku License.
That section included a promise that an author, maintainer, editor or distributor would take his or her own life with a sword if they failed to uphold the pledges, or if they modified or removed any part of the license. Fulton claims 79 employees voted to remove that section. One employee cited a colleague lost to suicide the year before, according to the report.
Fulton claims Buterin promised significant changes. However, she says the version published on the EF website kept the Source Seppuku License. The report also says the foundation recorded the mandate permanently on the Ethereum blockchain with the pledge intact.
Disagreement over resignations
The complaint also alleges that EF Co-Executive Director Bastian Aue insisted every employee must commit to the mandate, or the foundation would assume they had resigned. Fulton and colleague Trent Van Epps then sent the EF board a letter signed by 53 members of the Protocol cluster. The letter declined to affirm the mandate under coercion, but stated that they did not resign, according to the report.
Subsequently, Fulton’s employment was terminated, the report says. It also describes a conversation between Buterin and Fulton after her termination. In that conversation, he reportedly said he was struggling with what kind of dynamics to reward inside the EF, and was concerned that rewarding making a stink with outcomes would encourage similar actions.
What is confirmed and what is still unclear
The lawsuit itself is reported by Protos, and its contents are presented as Fulton’s allegations and claims. The report says Buterin allegedly promised changes, and that Aue allegedly required commitment or assumed resignation. Those points are not confirmed by the EF in the supplied material.
Protos said it emailed the EF for comment on the lawsuit, but the foundation did not immediately respond. No response from the foundation or the other defendants is included in the supplied material.
Sources
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