Mozilla CEO resigns days after taking the reins

Just days after taking the job, Brendan Eich has resigned as chief executive of Mozilla, the maker of Web browser Firefox, after coming under fire for his 2008 support of Proposition 8, the California constitutional amendment that disallowed the marriage of same-sex couples.

Mozilla announced Eich’s resignation Thursday afternoon in a blog post, apologizing for not acting in a way that users would expect from an organization that stands for openness and equality on the Web.

“While painful, the events of the last week show exactly why we need the Web. So all of us can engage freely in the tough conversations we need to make the world better,” Mozilla Chairwoman Mitchell Baker said in a statement. “We need to put our focus back on protecting that Web. And doing so in a way that will make you proud to support Mozilla.”

The organization named Eich CEO last week after operating under an interim CEO for more than a year. Eich had worked at Mozilla for years and was known as the founder of JavaScript, a popular programming language.

But Eich also gained infamy in 2012 when light was shed on a $1,000 donation he made in 2008 in support of Proposition 8.

After Eich was named CEO, numerous Mozilla staffers took to Twitter to call for his resignation. That was followed by the resignation of several Mozilla board members and a semi-boycott by popular online dating site OKCupid, which displayed a message asking Firefox users to try accessing the Web using a browser other than Mozilla’s

“We took the stand because it seemed like the right thing to do,” a spokesman for OKCupid said.

Mozilla said it is still discussing what comes next for its leadership.