![]() ![]() Pao's lawyer Alan Exelrod called the firm a "boys club" and referenced trial testimony and emails from prominent venture capitalist John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins, to show that Pao had been successful at the company. Pao also testified about receiving a book of erotic poetry from a male partner at the company. Pao's attorneys have portrayed her as the victim of a male-dominated culture at Kleiner Perkins where she was subjected to retaliation by a male colleague with whom she had an affair and to a discussion about pornography aboard a private plane. The decision about a possible promotion was made before Pao filed her complaint, defense lawyer Lynne Hermle told jurors during her closing argument. The jury of six men and six women began discussing Ellen Pao's lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers after an attorney for the prestigious venture capital firm said it did not retaliate against Pao by deciding not to promote her after she filed a gender bias complaint. Follow her at /heathersomervil.SAN FRANCISCO (CBS / AP) - Jury deliberations began Wednesday in a high-profile sex discrimination lawsuit that has shined a light on the gross underrepresentation of women in the technology and venture capital sectors of Silicon Valley. The firm said it conducted an independent investigation immediately after Pao raised concerns in 2012 but “concluded (her) discrimination and retaliation complaints were without merit,” according to Kleiner’s response to the lawsuit.Ĭontact Heather Somerville at 51. She says Kleiner Perkins fired her, while the firm says it advised her to leave based on her performance. Pao “experienced continued retaliation after she complained about sexual harassment to the highest level of management of KPCB,” according to the lawsuit. Meanwhile, the man Pao said had pressured her into sex was promoted, according to court documents. The firm did nothing to prevent further harassment and instead perpetuated a culture of gender discrimination by paying her - and other women at the firm - less, failing to promote them and excluding them from partner events, according to her lawsuit. Pao first complained about the firm’s treatment of women in 2007, after she told management about a married male junior partner who she said pressured her into having an affair in 2006 and continued to sexually harass her, according to her lawsuit. Pao took over as interim CEO at Reddit in November. Kleiner has maintained that Pao’s accusations are without merit and said she has “twisted facts and events in an attempt to create legal claims where none exit,” according to court documents.Īlso Monday, the judge heard requests from Kleiner attorneys to obtain information from microblogging site Reddit, Pao’s current employer, that will reveal the value of her stake in the company. Attorneys for Kleiner had opposed Lee’s deposition, calling it irrelevant and an intrusion on Lee’s privacy. Pao, who joined Kleiner in 2005, filed the lawsuit in May 2012, saying that in January of that year she had filed a written complaint with management about what she considered the firm’s culture of gender discrimination she was told to leave the firm in October 2012.Īlso at Monday’s hearing, a judge allowed Pao to question a former colleague, Aileen Lee, about a dinner that only male partners at the firm attended at former Vice President Al Gore’s apartment, and also ask about Pao’s employment and termination. The $16 million request was made during a hearing Monday at San Francisco Superior Court. SAN FRANCISCO - A former Silicon Valley venture capitalist is seeking $16 million from prominent firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers in a high-profile lawsuit that accuses the firm of blatant and entrenched gender discrimination.Įllen Pao, the former VC partner, has requested that her former employer pay millions for allegedly stymying her career at the firm and withholding raises and promotions because of her gender.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |