Kleiner Perkins needs Ellen Pao To Pay $1 Million For dropping Her Gender Discrimination Case

The VC firm suffered an incredible PR blow from the high-profile case, however making Pao pay them again for criminal prices is not more likely to assist their image.

April 24, 2015

It’s been just about a month due to the fact a jury made up our minds that Silicon Valley’s distinguished VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers didn’t discriminate in opposition to its former worker Ellen Pao in line with her gender. Now that they’ve received, the agency is soliciting for more.

on the time, we suggested that Felicia Medina, managing accomplice at Sanford Heisler Kimpel, LLP, San Francisco place of business, who followed the case closely and has experience with gender discrimination court cases, believed the agency didn’t in reality get away with anything else. Medina informed us: “Ellen Pao had her day—many days—in court docket, and the entire world knows now what goes on in that situation. They’re going to have to do so much to fix that popularity. This matter is not going to leave. it can be now on the forefront of public discourse.” one who many variety advocates consider may expand the problem beyond one individual vs. an organisation to category motion fits that may instigate extra sweeping adjustments.

Others speculated that the sheer surge of negative sentiment on social media may scare firms into self-policing their diversity with a view to avoid a PR debacle down the highway.

it seems that, KPCB doesn’t care what most people thinks. The agency has supplied Ellen Pao a new deal: Drop the case or pay us $1 million. If Pao chooses to let the case go, KPCB mentioned they’d move on with out requesting some other compensation.

in line with court docket papers filed in California advanced court in San Francisco this week, the case cost KPCB $972,815 in witness charges, deposition, and court docket reporter costs-the majority ($864,680.25) of which was once for witnesses.

Kleiner spokeswoman Christina Lee instructed the new york occasions, “We believe that girls in know-how can be absolute best served by using having all parties center of attention on making development on the issues of gender range outdoor of persevered litigation.”

sadly, Silicon Valley’s VC companies haven’t been so good at pursing this kind of growth. Freada Kapor Klein, a associate at venture capital agency Kapor Capital, says that for years she’s been mistreated and considered inappropriate things happen to women within the business. A familiar refrain on Sand Hill highway has been ‘We don’t care who you might be, what your background is—we fund the perfect concepts.” “We hear silly statements like, ‘it’s worthwhile to be pink for all we care in case you have a good suggestion, we’ll fund it,’ which turns out to be an aspiration and really a ways from the reality.”

at the very least, KPCB may have made the request public in a more inclusive and modern approach. according to the document within the big apple times, Debra Katz, an attorney who specializes in gender discrimination, proposed this approach: “This was once arduous fought and we obviously disagree with your view, however it’s in the pastime of all parties to stroll away. within the period in-between, there were lessons realized and we are going to fund organizations that target glass ceiling concerns.”

[Photo: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]

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