Ellen Pao loses discrimination case against Kleiner Perkins, then judge revives one claim
Developing: The jury has reached a verdict in a much-watched Silicon Valley employment discrimination case.
Ellen Pao, a former BigLaw associate with star credentials who currently is at the helm of Reddit, had sought millions from storied venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. She got zip.
“The jury found for Kleiner Perkins on every claim,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported in a live-tweet from the courtroom, minutes after the verdict.
But there was a hiccup when the jury was polled. The panel clearly nixed Pao’s claims that Kleiner Perkins discriminated again against her based on gender, and decided that Kleiner Perkins took reasonable steps against gender discrimination, reports USA Today. But the jury voted 8-4 on a retaliation claim. A 9-3 vote is required in California.
So the jury was sent back to try to reach a verdict on retaliation. Unless an about-face occurs this time around, it appears that the best result Pao could get would be a hung jury on the retaliation claim.
The Associated Press, Reuters and Wired also have stories.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Ellen Pao testifies to wanting $10M to settle Kleiner Perkins discrimination case”
ABAJournal.com: “Judge OKs punitives in high-profile discrimination case; jury could award Ellen Pao as much as $160M”
San Francisco Chronicle (opinion): “Ellen Pao case will be debated for years to come”
Updated at 5:25 p.m. to include and accord with news that jury had been sent back to deliberate on retaliation count.
