Senior executive sues Mozilla over potential cancer discrimination

A senior executive with Mozilla, the company behind the Firefox browser, has filed a discrimination complaint against his workplace after he says he was discriminated against due to a cancer diagnosis.

Mozilla is being sued in King County by its Chief Product Officer Steve Teixeira. He says the company discriminated against him because he said they “were uncomfortable having an executive with cancer.”

Teixeira was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his eye and had to have his eye removed.

The cancer spread to stage four, but Teixeira says he was healthy enough to go back to work after just a three-month leave.

Teixeira says Mozilla then forced him to lay off fifty workers who reported to him and take responsibility for the layoffs. Then, he says he got a poor performance review, a demotion, and a 40 percent cut in pay.

“From my standpoint, it’s sort of textbook punishing me for having to take leave. I didn’t want to take leave and have my eye removed. I know it was inconvenient for Mozilla, but it’s a little bit absurd to say, you know, everything should be running smoothly without you. Because if that’s the case, why does this position exist?” said Steve Teixeira.

KIRO 7 did get a response from Mozilla, saying that it denies the allegations and intends to vigorously defend against this lawsuit. They also said that Mozilla looks forward to presenting its defense in court, and are confident the facts will demonstrate they acted appropriately.

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