In February the Ethereum Foundation circulated a draft of its new mandate to staff, including a "Source Seppuku License" pledge to take one's own life upon breaking its terms. A lawsuit filed by former Protocol Support lead Kayleen Fulton against Stiftung Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin and others claims she was fired after disclosing a cancer diagnosis and organizing opposition to that clause.

The complaint says 79 employees voted to remove the section and Buterin allegedly promised "significant changes". The published mandate kept the clause, and the EF recorded it permanently on the Ethereum blockchain.

Fulton and colleague Trent Van Epps sent the EF board a letter signed by 53 Protocol cluster members who declined to affirm the mandate under coercion, after Co-Executive Director Bastian Aue said staff who did not commit would be treated as having resigned.

Fulton's employment was terminated after the letter. The EF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.