Ethereum Foundation lawsuit alleges suicide pledge
The gist
Former Ethereum Foundation lead Kayleen Fulton sued the nonprofit and Vitalik Buterin, alleging wrongful firing.
The suit claims she was dismissed after opposing a suicide pledge.
How it unfolded
- late Feb 2026The board shared a draft mandate with staff; employees began asking whether they were pledging to die by suicide.
- a Friday in Mar 2026Managers sent the 38-page mandate to all employees and told them to commit to its principles by Monday or quit.
- Mar 2026Nearly 80 of the foundation's roughly 250 employees voted to remove the suicide pledge; leadership kept it word-for-word in the final version, presented as an illustration rather than in the main body.
Key terms
- Ethereum Foundation
- A decentralized open-source blockchain platform with smart contract functionality, whose native cryptocurrency is ether.
- blockchain network
- A distributed ledger of records linked by cryptographic hashes, making past entries resistant to alteration.
- FMLA
- A U.S. labor law requiring covered employers to give eligible employees job-protected, unpaid leave for medical or family reasons.
Source: Wikipedia