Instead, to resolve the suit completely, Pao told Re/code, she agreed to pay Kleiner the legal costs ordered by the judge in the case: a total of $275,966. And though Pao ultimately lost the case, supporters lauded her efforts to draw attention to the ongoing battle to create a level playing field for women in tech.Īfter KPCB successfully defended itself at trial, the venture capital firm demanded that Pao reimburse the $1 million or so it spent on legal costs-which Pao argued she shouldn’t have to pay. In the venture capital industry, the gender gap is even more prominent: in 2014, only 6 percent of partners at venture capital firms were women, according to a Babson College study. The six-week sex bias trial had captivated Silicon Valley and the larger tech industry, where women are still in the minority in spite of efforts to increase diversity. But none of the managing partners at the firm were female.In late March, a jury denied Pao’s claims that Kleiner Perkins discriminated against her because of her gender, and retaliated against her for reporting gender bias at the firm. Ellen Paos blockbuster lawsuit against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers has been described as 'exposing Silicon Valley secrets' and putting the usually secretive world of. Another woman had been promoted from junior partner to senior partner. According to Exelrod, there’s ample proof that Kleiner Perkins systematically puts women down: In 2005, one woman was hired as senior partner. But Exelrod says that the company at large did not address her complaints. Needs to tone it down a little.” And, Exelrod says, the jury will hear from damages experts talking about the difference between what she would have earned if she had been promoted, versus being dismissed.Īt one point, early on in the situation, Doerr vetoed a proposal to terminate Pao. ![]() Pao’s performance reviews often criticized how she was difficult to work with, according to Exelrod, while her male coworkers received milder admonishments for things like being “blunt or overbearing” or “too arrogant. Believe me, I’m happy to be involved and work on worthwhile outcomes.") (One email by Nazre’s mentor presented in the courtroom read: "This will be put behind us as long as we don’t make a mountain out of a molehill. But as Judge Harold Kahn noted to the courtroom during a briefing of her claims, Pao is not saying she was sexually harassed.Įxelrod says jurors will hear about how Pao was punished for ending her relationship with Nazre by being excluded from emails and meetings, how she received unwanted sexual advancements by others at the company, and how she was advised by management to drop her claims of sexism at the company. According to Pao, her firing in October 2012 was a direct result of these reports. Pao’s counsel will have to have to prove two themes during the trial: that with other male colleagues at the firm, Pao did not have a level playing field at Kleiner Perkins and that there was clear retaliation by the company after reporting the discrimination she faced to management. But if the suit fails, the voices who claim Silicon Valley’s gender issues are overblown may only get louder. If the jury finds in favor of Pao, it could help change the atmosphere across the American tech industry. The Pao-Kleiner trial, which kicked off in earnest today in San Francisco, promises to take an incisive look at the dark side of Silicon Valley’s work culture-a side characterized by systematic discrimination against women-and it could have far-reaching implications. Pao is a tech investor and advocate, the former CEO of reddit, and a cofounder of the award-winning diversity and inclusion nonprofit Project Include. ![]() "When it came time to choose the next generation of leaders at Kleiner Perkins, Kleiner only chose men.” Ellen Pao’s case against sexism in venture capital sparked a national conversation. "Kleiner Perkins used Ellen Pao's talents for six years," Exelrod said during the arguments in Pao's high-profile discrimination suit against her former employer. Ellen Pao's attorney says she's not that different from the many men who've served as partners at the prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers: She has a background in science, an engineering degree from Princeton, and a business degree from Harvard.Īnd yet, says her attorney, Alan Exelrod, Kleiner didn't treat her like her male counterparts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |