Over the past few days, we have received a lot of questions and seen a great number of media stories about the events surrounding Brendan Eich’s resignation from the role of CEO. Many of the media stories have incorrect facts, so we compiled the following FAQ as a resource for everyone to have access to the core facts.
Here is the announcement on Brendan Eich stepping down as Mozilla CEO.
Q: Was Brendan Eich fired?
A: No, Brendan Eich resigned. Brendan himself said:
“I have decided to resign as CEO effective April 3rd, and leave Mozilla. Our mission is bigger than any one of us, and under the present circumstances, I cannot be an effective leader. I will be taking time before I decide what to do next.”
Brendan Eich also posted a blog on this topic.
Q: Was Brendan asked to resign by the Board?
A: No. In fact, Board members and senior executives tried to get Brendan to stay at Mozilla in another role or to stay actively involved with Mozilla as a volunteer contributor. Brendan decided that it was better for himself and for Mozilla to sever all ties, at least for now.
Q: Was Brendan Eich forced out by employee pressure?
A: No. While these tweets calling for Brendan’s resignation were widely reported in the media, they came from only a tiny number of people: less than 10 of Mozilla’s employee pool of 1,000. None of the employees in question were in Brendan’s reporting chain or knew Brendan personally.
In contrast, support for Brendan’s leadership was expressed from a much larger group of employees, including those who felt disappointed by Brendan’s support of Proposition 8 but nonetheless felt he would be a good leader for Mozilla. Communication from these employees has not been covered in the media.
Q: Did Board members resign over Brendan’s Prop 8 donation?
A: No. Gary Kovacs and Ellen Siminoff had previously stated they had plans to leave as soon as Mozilla chose the the next CEO. John Lilly did not resign over Proposition 8 or any concerns about Brendan’s personal beliefs.
Q: Is Mozilla becoming a social activist organization?
A. No. Mozilla is committed to a single cause: keeping the Web free and open. Our specific goals as an organization are outlined in the Mozilla Manifesto. If anything, we are activists for the open Web. Mozilla has a long history of gathering people of with a wide diversity of political and religious beliefs to work on the project.
Q: Is Mozilla pro-gay-marriage?
A. The Mozilla Project does not take stands on issues outside the scope of the Mozilla Manifesto. Like most of their peers in the US tech industry, Mozilla Corporation and Mozilla Foundation a) have provided benefits and support to same sex couples for a number of years and b) recently issued the following statement about marriage equality. Both organizations are incorporated in the State of California.
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