Mozilla -- the organization that fired its CEO because it disagreed with a political donation he made in California -- lacks credibility when it talks about building an "open society".
"Brendan Eich was not fired. After his appointment, there was backlash from the Mozilla Community. He came under pressure to resign and he did. The Mozilla Board that appointed him knew about his donation; they did not "remove him because of his views." If that alone was the issue, they simply wouldn't have given him the job in the first place. Resignation (after only 11 days in the CEO role) became the only viable path forward when a sizable portion of the Mozilla Community refused to follow the person that the Board designated to lead the organization. That wide refusal and rejection fomented the issue, and Eich's decision to maintain his public stance on gay marriage -- as is his right -- created an impasse. It is incorrect to say that he was fired or removed; it is fair, though, to say that he was forced out."
> Brendan Eich was not fired. ... He came under pressure to resign and he did.
So in other words, he was told if he didn't resign he'd be fired. Let's not play games, he wasn't going to survive that episode.
> The Mozilla Board that appointed him knew about his donation
I seriously doubt that, unless checking a person's political donations is a standard course of action Mozilla takes -- which would open a major can of worms (you didn't promote me because I donated to Trump). The whole episode reeked of someone digging around and raising a stink shortly after he made a highly visible move -- otherwise, why did no one in the "community" take issue with his donation in the several years prior?
Eich had an oppertunity, in that moment, to speak of a change of heart. That change of heart regarding same sex marriage is one that millions underwent in a very short period of time. Instead, he said this:
“Eich also stressed that Firefox worked globally, including in countries like Indonesia with “different opinions”, and LGBT marriage was ‘not considered universal human rights yet, and maybe they will be, but that’s in the future, right now we’re in a world where we have to be global to have effect’.
It is most certainly standard to check the political donations, statements, and affiliations for the person you are promoting to CEO. This is not a mere promotion from SDE; this is the face of the company, and a company that specifically touts inclusion as a core tenant.
The company should've given more support given it was a ridiculous situation, but it's understandable why he'd resign given how much noise was being made.
