Ellen Pao sued the Silicon Valley firm regarding sexism claims and lost, incurring a bill of $973,000
Ellen Pao might be able to waive the fees so long as she does not appeal against the Jury’s decision according to Venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins. Pao was fired from Kleiner Perkins in 2012 and since then, her court case has sparked discussion and controversy about gender bias in Silicon Valley.
Kleiner Perkins is a technology firm with investments in applications and programs such as Snapchat, Spotify, Uber and many more. Pao and her lawyers failed to prove a prevalent sexist and “boys’ club” atmosphere at Kleiner Perkins, which insisted that firing Pao was based on her poor performance. A jury of six men and six women rejected Pao’s claim of sexism. However, Pao has said that bringing this case to court was more to shed light on the injustice than to actually win the $16 she was seeking. Women make up less than 1/3 of the workforce of both Google and Apple, with fewer women in technical roles. She tweeted, “Hopefully my case will inspire the venture capital industry to level the playing field for everyone including women and minorities,” after the trial ended.
Apparently, Kleiner Perkins were willing to settle for $964,502 last November, but were met with no response from Ellen Pao.
-Nishat Baig
