According to the complaint filed in Colorado federal court on November 4, Kayleen Fulton, who led the Ethereum Foundation's protocol support team, sued the Foundation's Swiss and Singapore entities, co-executive director Bastian Aue, Vitalik Buterin, and two HR contractors, alleging wrongful termination and disability discrimination. Fulton disclosed an ovarian cancer diagnosis to management on March 24 and was terminated without performance-related explanation on April 6. Her co-author on a staff protest letter, Trent Van Epps, was dismissed the same day roughly 30 minutes apart.

The dispute stems from the EF Mandate, an operational charter circulated in February 2026, which contained the "Source Seppuku License" clause on page 11. In response, 79 employees demanded deletion of the language, and 53 employees signed a joint letter in late March rejecting forced consent to the charter. Management treated the Mandate language as symbolic, but only the two letter authors were terminated on April 6. The complaint seeks unpaid wages, damages, and punitive relief, citing a May 1 recorded call in which Buterin warned that concessions could teach employees that "making noise is how results get achieved."

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