![]() Hermle has been on the case since then, building towards this week’s cross-examination crescendo that spanned three days. The complaint was filed in 2012, the same year Kleiner fired Nazre for sexually harassing another female investor. Pao claims she faced retaliation after a Kleiner partner named Ajit Nazre manipulated her into a brief affair. Pao, now the interim CEO of Reddit, is suing Kleiner, a well-known Silicon Valley venture capital firm, for gender discrimination. Hermle is known around town for making her opponents throw up. (Hermle is actually from the Bay Area, but there's something unhurried and showy about her shtick.) As an employment lawyer for Orrick, she's defeated discrimination and sexual harassment claims against clients like IBM and AMD. To get a sense of how mercilessly Ellen Pao’s testimony was excoriated this week, first you have to envision Lynne Hermle, the lead attorney representing Kleiner Perkins: picture Laura Linney from Primal Fear, but dripping with Paula Deen's Southern charm. Meeker’s testimony plowed right through it. ![]() For the past three weeks, Pao, now the interim CEO of Reddit, has been trying to establish a pattern of bias against female employees. The Morgan Stanley veteran, known for identifying companies like Microsoft and America Online before everyone else, said she had not been excluded from events because of her gender or observed any gender discrimination. For Meeker, who joined the venture capital fund almost five years ago to lead Kleiner’s digital growth fund, it certainly sounds like it has been. "I think Kleiner Perkins is the best place to be a woman in the business," Meeker told the court without a hint of hesitation. However, yesterday’s testimony from Mary "Queen of the Internet" Meeker reinforced the sentiment that Pao’s $16 million lawsuit may not be the case to hang their hopes on. If a billionaire venture capitalist like Doerr is aching for a win, just imagine how equal rights advocates in Silicon Valley - faced with platitudes about diversity, being called crazy, or deafening silence - feel. One catchphrase that keeps popping up in the Kleiner Perkins trial is "needed a win." Why was Ellen Pao denied a board seat? Kleiner patriarch John Doerr said the senior partner who got the gig "needed a win." "Kleiner needed a win. But Judge Kahn seems unconvinced about aspects of Pao's complaint: Read Article > The lawsuit alleges Kleiner soured on her after she complained about being excluded by Nazre and a host of other subtle instances of sexism. Pao claims Nazre pressured her into a consensual affair and he was later fired for sexually harassing another female partner. In addition to gender discrimination, Pao is also suing for retaliation and failure to prevent retaliation after she complained about a partner named Ajit Nazre. The back-and-forth between Judge Kahn and Pao's lawyer Alan Exelrod on Tuesday was very telling. The ruling is a pitfall for Kleiner Perkins, the prestigious Silicon Valley venture capital firm that has financed companies like Google, Amazon, Electronic Arts, and Uber. Yesterday both legal teams were presenting arguments to Judge Kahn for hours after the jury, when the San Francisco Superior Court is normally closed. The motion was initially filed on Tuesday unbeknownst to the jury, in one of many on-the-record discussions that happens out of the earshot of the six men and six women who will decide this case. Kleiner's attorney Lynne Hermle asked the judge to dismiss the punitive damages claim on Tuesday - and it was a bit of a shock that Kahn entertained the notion, questioning whether Pao had proven the malice, fraud, or oppression, the standards for punitive damages. ![]() According to the Mercury News, in Pao's case, punitive damages would have been "likely more than $100 million." Punitive damages, however, are typically much higher because - as the name implies - the amount is meant to punish the defendant for inflicting harm. She is asking for $16 million in lost wages from being denied a promotion and fired from the firm in 2012. Pao, now the interim CEO of Reddit, will also be allowed to sue for compensatory damages. The trial is expected to reach closing arguments Tuesday. ![]()
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