Ellen Pao lost her gender discrimination lawsuit against Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers after a closely watched trial in San Francisco Superior Court. Pao alleged that she was fired because of her gender, but the six-man, six-woman jury sided with Kleiner Perkins.
The lawsuit was filed in 2012, with Pao seeking $16 million in damages. According to SFGate, she claimed that men were often promoted over women who were equally qualified. She also said that she was retaliated against when she raised concerns over this and was fired after she filed her lawsuit.
However, Kleiner Perkins said she was never promoted because she was hard to work with and never got along with her co-workers.
By siding with Kleiner Perkins, the jury determined that Pao was not fired because of her gender and didn’t retaliate against her for raising concerns or filing the lawsuit.
In a series of tweets after the verdict, Pao wrote that, “Because of social media and live reports, the problem of gender discrimination in venture capital has received attention around the globe.”
In another message, Pao added, “Hopefully my case will inspire the venture capital industry to level the playing field for everyone, including women and minorities.”
As The New York Times notes, attorneys for Kleiner Perkins didn’t really celebrate the victory and insisted that the firm doesn’t discriminate against women. It “never occurred to me for a second that a careful and attentive jury like this would find either discrimination or retaliation,” lawyer Lynne C. Hermle said.
While she lost, the case did raise flags over the lack of women within the tech industry. Twitter and Facebook are also facing gender discrimination lawsuits.