EFF Defends Ex-Kraken Worker’s Proper to Publish Anonymously About Firm

The Digital Frontier Basis is defending a former Kraken worker embroiled in a lawsuit over an nameless overview of the crypto alternate on Glassdoor.

The EFF – a non-profit digital rights group – has taken up the cause of a John Doe defendant and is asking California’s Marin County Superior Court docket to quash a movement by Kraken to determine the person who allegedly gave the alternate a poor overview on the employer ranking web site.

In accordance with the EFF’s court docket submitting, the consumer left a overview, praising facets of life on the agency, but additionally saying they felt “a deep sense of trepidation a lot of the time.” Kraken had initially replied and thanked the reviewer, the EFF says, however later modified tack and “started concentrating on Doe and different former staff.”

In accordance with the submitting, the nameless reviewer additionally checked containers saying they’d not suggest Payward, had a “impartial outlook” on the corporate and “disapprove[d] of [the] CEO.”

The consumer had taken care to not disclose confidential data or defame the agency within the overview, the EFF mentioned.

In Could 2019, Kraken filed a lawsuit towards 10 nameless reviewers, together with the EFF consumer, alleging breach of severance contracts over the critiques and searching for to acquire figuring out data. Kraken additional emailed ex-employees “demanding that they delete any critiques that had been in violation of the severance settlement,” mentioned the EFF.

In accordance with EFF employees legal professional Aaron Mackey, the lawsuit is meant to “harass and silence” each present and former staff at Kraken who want to discuss publicly about their experiences on the agency.

“Kraken’s efforts to unmask and sue its former staff discourages everybody from speaking about their work and demonstrates why California courts should robustly shield nameless audio system’ First Modification rights,” Mackey mentioned.

The EFF’s consumer is alleged to have deleted their overview regardless of feeling it didn’t break the severance settlement.

“Within the cryptocurrency business, safety and popularity are paramount. Like its peer corporations, Kraken makes use of confidentiality and severance agreements to guard the platform’s safety and its popularity,” Jesse Powell, co-founder and CEO of Kraken, instructed CoinDesk in a press release.

“In these agreements, either side receives one thing. The previous worker at problem right here want to profit from the settlement with out upholding his or her facet of the discount. We welcome worker suggestions, however we cannot tolerate double-dealing,” Powell mentioned.