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Sep 28, 2017 · Ellen Pao became a kind of cause celebre in 2012 after she filed a gender discrimination lawsuit against her employer, the powerful venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. Pao had been a junior ...
- PBS News Hour
- 8 min
Ellen Kangru Pao (born 1970) is an American investor and former interim CEO of social media company Reddit. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] [ 3 ] Pao first became known in 2012 for filing a failed gender discrimination suit against her employer, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins , and has continued to express vocal criticism of the hiring and promotion practices in Silicon Valley .
- The Plaintiff
- The Firm
- No Women allowed?
- The Unmet Expectations?
- The Affair
- The Valentine's Gift
- The Recruiter's Take
- The Lawyers
- The Judge and Jury
- Possible Punitive Damages
Pao, 45, was fired five months after she filed suit in May 2012. She claims that during her seven years at Kleiner Perkins she wasn't promoted for lucrative jobs over her male co-workers, was asked to sit in the back of the room at meetings, and was later punished when she complained about her treatment. Pao testified that the firm treated women un...
Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers is considered the granddaddy of Silicon Valley's venture capital firms. It was founded in 1972 and famously invested in Web pioneers like Netscape Communications, the early browser maker. It also financed powerhouses like Google, Twitter and Uber. Pao said she suggested the company invest in Twitter in 2007, but the...
Pao presented several examples of what she described as discriminatory behavior at Kleiner. One example: she and other female workers were not invited to dinners at the home of former Vice President Al Gore, who lived in the same building as Pao. Her attorneys claimed one former Kleiner Perkins partner didn't invite women to the Gore dinner because...
Kleiner Perkins has said Pao's claims lack merit and they repeatedly referred to her poor job performance reviews during the trial. Senior partner John Doerr, who mentored Pao (she was one of his chiefs of staff), testified that he was a strong advocate of Pao. Yet, he also felt she had a selfish attitude. "I couldn't fight for her to stay," Doerr ...
Aside from the supposed issues with her work, Pao was also cited for having an affair with someone at the firm. Pao said a married co-worker pressured her into it, but Kleiner Perkins' lawyers say she was a willing participant. Pao said she broke it off after learning the man had never left his wife. She said the former partner, Ajit Nazre, then cu...
An affair that Pao had with a co-worker wasn't the only sexual issue brought forth during the trial. Pao's attorneys said Kleiner Perkins partner Randy Komisar made an unwanted advance toward Pao and gave her a gift, the "Book of Longing" by Leonard Cohen -- which includes sexually themed poems and nude drawings -- on Valentine's Day 2007. Komisar ...
Kleiner's head of recruitment, Juliet de Baubigny, testified that she recruited Pao to join the firm but later worried that Pao had issues that left "a cloud" over her. De Baubigny said Pao would frequently complain about co-workers. "I began to dread when she came to my office with a notebook and wanted to talk about other things," she said. De Ba...
The trial has seen a spirited battle between two female attorneys. Pao's lead attorney, Therese Lawless, is a gender harassment specialist. She and her co-counsel, Alan Exelrod, have portrayed Kleiner Perkins as a hostile work environment for women. Meanwhile, Kleiner Perkins' attorney, Lynne Hermle, has tried to poke holes in Pao's accusations, as...
One of the odder parts of the trial has been how it was conducted. Superior Court Judge Harold Kahn allowed witnesses to take questions from the jury, a legal tactic rarely used. After Pao's fourth day of testifying, the jury submitted more than 100 questions to Pao during a two-hour stretch. Jurors asked: "When did you come to the conclusion that ...
Pao was seeking $16 million, but it wasn't until March 21 that the judge allowed her to seek punitive damages. In his ruling, Judge Kahn wrote that there is sufficient evidence that a juror could conclude Kleiner Perkins engaged in intentional gender discrimination against Pao by failing to promote her and by terminating her employment.
Mar 8, 2019 · How Ellen Pao lost a lawsuit, but won a hearing on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save. Elaine Moore. March 8 2019. Jump to comments section Print this page. Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free.
- Elaine Moore
Mar 28, 2015 · Ultimately, it’s because the Pao/Kleiner Perkins trial was not setting a legal precedent, but a public discussion precedent. While we didn’t know that would be the case going in, we dug in and ...
- Liz Gannes
Apr 5, 2015 · For some of those outside of the courtroom, this was a surprise—over the course of the five-week trial, Ellen Pao had become almost a folk hero, fighting against the status quo that’s kept a ...
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"Ellen Pao took the step that many women couldn't afford to take and in doing so opened the door for many more women to speak up. Her case was influential in my decision to become so involved in ...
