A web developer who claims he has lost clients and struggled to pay his mortgage and employees since Matt Mullenweg and WP Engine’s feud went public last September has filed a motion to intervene in their ongoing legal battle.
Michael Willman, Chairman and CEO of Website Redevelopment Corporation (Redev), also filed a motion for contempt yesterday, alleging that Mullenweg violated a court-ordered preliminary injunction last month by banning him from Making WordPress Slack on January 4.
Willman’s motion to intervene lists 14 additional claims against Mullenweg and Automattic, including tortious interference, libel, attempted extortion, monopolization, and illegal tying. He is seeking reinstatement of his access to WordPress Slack, compensation for damages, and the creation of a WordPress Governance Oversight Board to oversee governance during the legal dispute.
Posting in the r/WPDrama subreddit yesterday, where he is a moderator, Willman described his board proposal as a “first draft” aimed at protecting the WordPress community from further harm.
“It may very well be that my entire filing is thrown out as a waste of time, but I am left with no further recourse here, and I hope that I can at least help drive discussion forward about how to proceed and to fix the issues with our governance. As someone who has been building on WP for over 15 years, I just don’t want to see it die,” Willman said.
“I’m representing myself, and as my family and I are forced to live in a travel trailer, we can just park it in California for the duration of the trial. I could be bankrupted by court costs if the court decided this is frivolous and awards them, but I’m willing to take that risk.”
WP Engine filed its lawsuit against Mullenweg and his company, Automattic, in October 2024, alleging trademark abuse, attempted extortion, and anti-competitive practices. The suit followed Mullenweg’s keynote address at WordCamp US 2024, where he accused WP Engine and its private equity backer, Silver Lake, of profiting off WordPress without contributing enough back. He later accused the company of infringing on WordPress trademarks.
Actions escalated when Mullenweg blocked WP Engine from WordPress.org’s servers and took control of the free version of the hosting company’s ACF plugin. In November, WP Engine expanded its lawsuit to include antitrust allegations.
Last month, WP Engine secured a preliminary injunction requiring Mullenweg and Automattic to restore the company’s access to WordPress.org and return ACF. The injunction also prohibits “blocking, disabling, or interfering with WPEngine’s and/or its employees’, users’, customers’, or partners’ access to wordpress.org.”
Willman claims he has suffered significant harm to his business, reputation, and mental health as a result of Mullenweg and Automattic’s actions. In a 58-page declaration, Willman details his financial and personal losses, including the cancellation of a $14,500 website development contract, the loss of an ongoing eCommerce agency partnership, and the diversion of 50 employee hours to create a mirror repository for WordPress.org plugins. He claims these setbacks forced him to lay off staff, move his family into a travel trailer, and sell personal belongings to afford Christmas gifts for his son.
His motion for contempt asks the court to hold Mullenweg in criminal contempt, including a fine and potential jail time, for violating the preliminary injunction.
Willman’s board proposal follows Yoast founder Joost de Valk’s recent call for an end to Mullenweg’s BDFL (Benevolent Dictator for Life) leadership of WordPress, declaring that Mullenweg was “no longer benevolent.” Notably, Willman names de Valk, Crowd Favorite CEO Karim Marucchi (who has publicly supported de Valk’s push for change), and WP Community Collective President Sé Reed as potential board members.
Mullenweg criticized the trio in a blog post last week, falsely claiming they are working on a WordPress fork. While he said he planned to deactivate their WordPress.org accounts, only Reed’s account has been disabled.
Willman’s intervention is the first challenge to Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín’s preliminary injunction. In her December ruling, Martínez-Olguín noted the public importance of resolving the dispute, stating that over 40% of websites worldwide rely on WordPress. “Those who have relied on WordPress’s stability, and the continuity of support from for-fee service providers who have built businesses around WordPress, should not have to suffer the uncertainty, losses, and increased costs of doing business attendant to the parties’ current dispute. Defendants’ arguments in opposition do not persuade otherwise,” the order stated.
It’s unclear when Willman’s motion will be heard as his court filings lists Thursday February 23, 2025 as the scheduled date for a hearing, but February 23 is a Sunday.
The Repository contacted Automattic and WP Engine for comment.
Updated, 17 January 2025: Corrected hearing date.
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4 responses to “Developer Seeking to Intervene in WP Engine vs. Automattic Lawsuit, Citing Financial Ruin and Community Harm”
“It’s unclear when Willman’s motion will be heard as his court filings lists February 23, 2005 as the scheduled date for a hearing, which is a Sunday.”
The year in that date appears to be incorrect.
Thanks for the heads up. Corrected.
Mullenweg’s keynote address was at WordCamp US 2024 not WordCamp Europe.
Thanks for the heads up. Corrected.