I worked for a corporation for a few years. We had strict rules about not downloading anything to our work computer because they did an internal study and found that 98% of all malware came from employees downloading music apps and that sort of thing. So they forbade it all wholesale. Breaking that rule could get you in trouble, up to and including being fired for it.

So, sure, it's possible that in some cases people were fired because this Easter Egg outed them for violating some rule. And it's entirely possible that some of the cases of "I got fired for this" are that kind of scenario.

But if this is not against the rules and the firing is actually because it is Christmas-themed, that's a different situation.

I'm also aware that it could be a cultural thing where someone has to be the fall guy and heads will roll to prove our innocence. I see that as deeply problematic. If you didn't forbid open source, firing someone for using it as the "first offense" penalty is not a good policy.

I realize we likely have very little information at this point in time about the details behind the firings and it is the norm for early reports to be wildly misconstrued, which is one of the reasons saying anything at all here is potentially something I will regret.