Ellen Pao loses bulk of claims in Kleiner Perkins gender bias case

Ellen Pao was not pushed out from her job as a junior venture capitalist at firm Kleiner Perkins because of gender discrimination at the firm, a jury in San Francisco has ruled, after a month-long case that fuelled fierce debate over the dearth of women in senior roles in Silicon Valley.

A decision on all four counts, however, was incomplete. The judge asked the 12-person jury, comprised of sex men and six women, to resume deliberations on Ms Pao's claim that she was fired in retaliation for suing Kleiner after the 8-4 vote on that count failed to reach the required threshold.

The victory on the bulk of the claims for Kleiner Perkins, one of Silicon Valley's most prominent firms, could see Ms Pao held liable for a portion of the firm's legal fees.

The high-profile case, a rarity in the sometimes insular technology industry, has rattled the sector and heralded a wave of similar cases alleging widespread gender bias.

Former employees of Facebook and Twitter have filed suits, with one of the plaintiffs represented by the same firm that was hired by Ms Pao.

Chia Hong, who worked for Facebook from 2010 to 2013, claimed it was a "hostile work environment", that she was given menial tasks and was asked why she did not stay at home to take care of her child.

Tina Huang, who worked as a software engineer for Twitter, claims the social media company's promotion process unfairly favoured men, and has filed a class action suit on behalf of other current and former female Twitter employees who were denied promotion.

Both Facebook and Twitter strongly deny the claims.

Testimony in Ms Pao's trial lasted for more than a month and riveted Silicon Valley with accounts of sexual harassment, all-male getaways, political infighting, and intense performance pressure.

Ms Pao's team argued that there had never been a "level playing field" for her at the firm. Her lawyer Alan Exelrod said that no women had operated at the most senior level until 2011, and that nearly all junior employees were men. That, he said, fostered a culture biased against women and meant Ms Pao never stood a chance of being promoted from junior to senior partner.

Among the incidents he cited, one junior male peer of Ms Pao's arranged an all-male ski trip, while a female peer of Ms Pao's found herself rebuffing inappropriate advances from a senior male partner who knocked on her hotel room door in a bathrobe while on a business trip. That partner, Ajit Nazre, who was later fired for sexual harassment, also duped Ms Pao into having an affair with him by claiming to be separated from his wife.

"They ran Kleiner Perkins like a boys club," Mr Exelrod said in his closing statement.

Kleiner Perkins disagreed and took the opportunity in the trial to attack Ms Pao's character and talent, portraying her as a scheming and entitled junior employee who was nonetheless given substantial opportunities and mentoring by senior men at the firm, notably its most prominent partner, John Doerr.

The firm's lawyers said Ms Pao was unfit for promotion because of a her lack of experience and inability to get along with colleagues. It repeatedly cited performance reviews that described her working style as "caustic or dictatorial."

Ms Pao had sued the firm, said it lawyers, "to get the big payout she wanted for herself" once she realised she was not succeeding in her job.

"All the finger pointing in the world could not make Ellen Pao a team player, a great source of investments or a thought leader," said Lynne Hermle, partner in Silicon Valley for law firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

The jury's ruling on the outstanding claim may not see the end of the case, as lawyers on both sides have left open the possibility of an appeal.

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