Lawsuit claims Ethereum Foundation dismissed staffer over opposition to suicide clause

A legal complaint has been lodged by ex-Ethereum Foundation (EF) Protocol Support lead Kayleen Fulton, naming Stiftung Ethereum and Vitalik Buterin among others, claiming she was dismissed following her revelation of a cancer diagnosis and her role in rallying opposition to a "suicide pledge."

In February, the EF circulated a draft version of its updated mandate to staff.

The draft contained a provision dubbed the "Source Seppuku License," which stated that "the author, maintainer, editor or (re)distributor… shall uphold the following… to take his or her own life with a sword upon failure to uphold any of the pledges in this license, or upon modification or removal of any part of this license."

Bizarre Ethereum Foundation anime letter blamed for mass resignations

Further reading: Where are the Ethereum founders 11 years after the genesis block?

According to Fulton, 79 members of staff voted to delete that clause, with one referring to "a colleague lost to suicide the year before."

Buterin is said to have pledged "significant changes."

Despite that, the final version posted on the EF website still contained the Source Seppuku License.

Additionally, the foundation opted to immortalize it on the Ethereum blockchain, leaving the suicide pledge unchanged.

The lawsuit further claims that EF Co-Executive Director Bastian Aue demanded that all employees sign onto the mandate, or else the foundation would treat them as having resigned.

Subsequently, Fulton and colleague Trent Van Epps forwarded a letter to the EF board, endorsed by 53 individuals from the "Protocol cluster," that "declined to affirm [the Mandate] under coercion" while asserting they had not resigned.

After that, Fulton was fired.

Following her dismissal, Buterin and Fulton reportedly spoke, with Buterin saying the issue he was wrestling with was "what kind of dynamics you want to reward inside of the EF."

He also expressed worry that "if you reward making a stink with outcomes, then everyone will know that essentially making that kind of a show both internally and externally is the way to cause outcomes inside of the EF."

Protos reached out to the EF for a comment regarding the lawsuit but received no immediate reply.