Crypto foundation demanded employees endorse suicide pledge

A lawsuit filed in federal court by Kayleen Fulton, a Boulder resident and former Ethereum Foundation employee, alleges that the Switzerland-registered nonprofit required staff to endorse a sweeping vision document or leave their jobs. The 38-page “Ethereum Foundation Mandate,” circulated in March, described the organization’s direction over the next 1,000 years and included an illustrated “Source Seppuku License.” It said software contributors pledged to take their own lives with a sword if they failed to uphold its terms. Foundation leaders reportedly said the language was artistic and not literal, and later revised the commitment form to make that explicit. Employees were asked to either commit to the mandate or request extra compensation and depart.

According to the lawsuit, nearly 80 of about 250 employees initially voted to remove the pledge, but it remained in the final document. Fulton and a colleague organized a letter signed by 53 staff members who supported the mandate’s general direction but refused to sign the commitment form or resign. The foundation’s co-executive director allowed the signers to stay, but fired the two organizers. Fulton, who had recently been diagnosed with cancer, alleges the termination was discriminatory and retaliatory, and also claims interference with her Family and Medical Leave Act rights and other employment violations. The dispute was followed by departures and terminations among senior staff and letter-signers. Fulton is seeking legal remedies; the foundation had not responded to a request for comment.