Brendan Eich held a very short-lived tenure as CEO of Mozilla before stepping down. After his appointment a few weeks ago as chief executive of the company that runs Firefox, a popular internet browser, employees began criticizing the choice.

The new CEO was catching fire for making a $1,000 contribution in 2008 to support a ban on gay marriage in California. Eich’s critics argued this was not in line with the company’s values.

Eich said in an interview on April 1 he was capable of separating his personal beliefs from work, according to an New York Times story.

The same New York Times story reported Mitchell Baker, the executive chairwoman of Mozilla, claimed the company did not act quick enough responding to criticism. She also said Mozilla is a company that promotes openness and equality, while not
directly saying Eich’s views did not reflect those of the company.

Even if Eich’s beliefs were the direct opposite of the company’s, it is unfair he had to step down as a result. Just as it is unfair to fire a teacher because they married someone of the same sex — the editorial board covered this very topic earlier in the semester — someone’s views on gay marriage should not be a determining factor in their resignation as CEO.

Eich even stated he was able to keep his personal life out of his professional one, and his views would not change the way he handled his job. If this is the case, this amounts to firing someone just because their political beliefs don’t match others that are in charge. This does not sound very just.

Companies do have the right to take a stand on an issue like gay marriage. If this is the case and the CEO’s opinions differ that of the organization’s, then it is in good taste they don’t share these views in public. In this case, however, Eich made this donation years ago, well before being appointed to chief executive.

Forcing a resignation would be more justifiable if Eich had proven incapable of separating his beliefs from the business, but he did not get much of a chance to demonstrate this capability. Therefore, there was no solid justification of his
resignation.

The editorial board was unanimous in thinking Mozilla’s board of directors should not have asked him to step down.

Editorials in The Spectator reflect the majority opinion of the editorial board and are written by the Op/Ed Editor. The editorial board is generally comprised of the Editor in Chief, Managing Editor, Currents Editor, Photo Editor, News Editors and Sports Editor but may include other members of the editorial staff.