JULY 16, 2025. Earlier this year, Tycko & Zavareei LLP and Schubert Jonckheer & Kolbe LLP filed a class action lawsuit in the Northern District of California against the parent company of WordPress, Automattic, and one of its founders, Matthew Charles Mullenweg. This case, brought by Plaintiffs Ryan Keller and Sharon Schanzer, involves claims that Defendants deliberately abused their power and control over the WordPress ecosystem to purposefully, deliberately, and repeatedly disrupt contracts between Plaintiffs and the putative class and the third-party business WPEngine Incorporated (“WPEngine”or “WPE”). This case is an example of the power of corporations, their owners, and the stark imbalance of power between consumers and corporations. Two small business owners, Ryan Keller and Sharon Schanzer, filed this complaint to right a simple wrong, the disruption of their business by Defendants, even when Defendants knew their actions could harm small business owners and any purchaser of WPEngine’s services.
WordPress is a massively successful free open-source web content management system, which allows individuals and businesses to create and build their own websites. WordPress maintains at least 54,000 plugins (“Plugins”), 11,000 themes, and unlimited layout customization options, which allow website developers and operators significant freedom of choice and customization when building and operating a website. A significant proportion, by some estimates more than 40% of all websites globally, operate using the free open-source WordPress software.
In September 2024 Defendants engaged in a self-described campaign of “nuclear war” against WPE, while ignoring the very real collateral damage that would ensue, due to a purported trademark dispute. As part of this campaign of “nuclear war,” Defendants blocked WPE’s access to the WordPress.org repository including software updates and patches, security updates, and Plugins starting at least as early as September 24, 2024. During the disruption, Automattic and Mullenweg publicly and repeatedly bragged about how their interference so degraded WPE’s services that they are causing customers, like Plaintiffs, to no longer be able to use WPE. Defendants’ interference has sent shockwaves throughout the global WordPress ecosystem and has harmed hundreds of thousands of businesses and individuals who use WPEngine services, including Plaintiffs and the Class.
Plaintiffs and the class have suffered harm and business disruption as a result of WPE’s inability to access the repository. WordPress software exclusively relies upon the WordPress.org repository for auto-updates, and use of WordPress.org is crucial for the efficient and effective use of the website creation materials, development, and maintenance for websites built using WordPress software, code, and tools. Without it, Plaintiffs and the Class were not able to update their, or their clients’ websites as their normally would, lost access to key managed hosting features they relied on and paid for, and had to explore alternatives to WordPress at the expense of themselves and their businesses.
Plaintiffs, individually and on behalf of a nationwide class, allege claims of:
(1) Intentional Interference with Contractual Relations;
(2) Intentional Interference with Prospective Economic Relations; and
(3) Violation of California’s Unfair Competition Law.
WordPress is a major pillar of the internet. Its open-source free software is at the core of millions of websites worldwide. Tycko & Zavareei, led by Sabita Soneji and David McGee, filed this lawsuit to send a message to corporations: consumers are not to be treated as casualties in corporate warfare. Defendants must fulfill its promises to its customers and be held accountable for the disruptions.
The case is filed as Keller et al v. Automattic Inc. et al 3:25-cv-01892-RFL in the Northern District of California.