Former Ethereum Foundation Employee Sues Over Firing Linked to Staff Mandate

Kayleen Fulton, who goes by Nixo, has taken legal action against the Ethereum Foundation, its Singapore affiliate, executive Bastian Aue and co founder Vitalik Buterin. Her complaint, filed Nov. 4 in Colorado, says she was fired on April 6 for challenging a staff mandate. She is asking for damages and lost pay. The suit also claims disability discrimination and interference with medical leave, tied to a cancer diagnosis she shared with the Foundation around the same period.

The EF Mandate and the Seppuku Clause

The mandate came out March 13 and set the Foundation’s mission around the CROPS principles: censorship resistance, open source, privacy and security. Much of the case centers on a section called the Source Seppuku License, which said staff would take their own life with a sword if they failed the promise to Ethereum. Employees were told to accept the direction or leave. The complaint admits Aue later said the wording was not literal and had nothing to do with actual seppuku.

Employee Letter and Alleged Retaliation

Fulton and colleague Trent Van Epps organized a letter that backed the Foundation’s direction but objected to some conditions in the mandate. It collected 53 signatures. The complaint argues both were fired because of that pushback.