More than 200 Wikipedia editors have backed a vote of no confidence in a trustee of the site’s governing body.<\/p>\n
Arnnon Geshuri, a former human resources manager at Google, was appointed to the board of the Wikimedia Foundation this month.<\/p>\n
The online encyclopaedia’s editors objected because of his links to an alleged no poaching scandal.<\/p>\n
Last January, Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe agreed to settle a lawsuit over related claims for $415m (\u00a3289m).<\/p>\n
One Wikipedia editor said they were “appalled” by Mr Geshuri’s appointment to the Wikimedia Foundation board of trustees, while another criticised the Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.<\/p>\n
About 20 editors, including two trustees, have publicly backed Mr Geshuri.<\/p>\n
One editor unhappy about the appointment wrote: “I’m appalled: Why this kind of person, with this kind of background, at all?”<\/p>\n
Another added: “I have no more confidence for the whole board, especially also to name Mr Wales himself. The board presents itself in a tragic condition, all faith lost that it could work for the best of the projects.”<\/p>\n
The no confidence call was accompanied by a statement, which indicated that an open letter had already been sent to the chairman of Wikimedia’s board.<\/p>\n
It noted Mr Geshuri had been “widely known for having played a significant role in the anticompetitive agreements scandal at Google”.<\/p>\n
“A vote of the community has no legal weight, but should be taken into consideration by the board of trustees to fulfil the Wikimedia Foundation statement of values,” it added.<\/p>\n
Documents filed with a US court indicated that Mr Geshuri, who now works for Tesla Motors, had been involved in enforcing a deal struck between Apple and Google not to poach each other’s staff.<\/p>\n
In a 2007 email, while he was working at Google, he assured his boss Eric Schmidt that a company employee would be “terminated within the hour” for approaching an Apple staff member.<\/p>\n
Mr Schmidt had contacted Mr Geshuri after Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs had complained to him, the documents indicated.<\/p>\n
In 2015, those two firms, as well as Intel and Adobe, agreed to pay out damages before the case could be heard. They had been accused of conspiring to keep down salaries.<\/p>\n
The firms did not disclose the details of the settlement.<\/p>\n
The Wikimedia Foundation, a not-for profit organisation founded by Jimmy Wales, administers Wikipedia and other projects.<\/p>\n
Its board has 10 trustees and Mr Geshuri is one of the two most recently appointed.<\/p>\n
In a message to Wikipedia editors posted on Tuesday, Mr Geshuri wrote: “Although I would have preferred the tone surrounding my appointment to be more positive and supportive, I deeply understand and respect the criticality of free expression, rallying around convictions, and open disagreement.”<\/p>\n
In an apparent reference to the allegations he was linked to the “no poaching” scandal, he said there were “misconceptions” and “mitigating considerations”.<\/p>\n
Mr Geshuri wrote: “As a general matter, I will say that, throughout my career, I have been charged with enforcing company policies as part of my role as a people manager. I have tried to do so thoughtfully and consistently. I have done so realising company policies and practices evolve over time as circumstances change.” He added that he wanted to win the editors’ trust.<\/p>\n
Mr Wales did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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