Sudhin Thanawala

A long legal battle over accusations that a prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm demeaned women and held them to a different standard than their male colleagues became a flashpoint in the ongoing discussion about gender inequity at elite technology and venture capital firms. Though Ellen Pao lost her lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Silicon Valley observers say her case and the attention it received will embolden women in the industry and continue to spur firms to examine their practices and cultures for gender bias. “This case has been a real wake up call for the technology...

Jurors were set to begin their second day of deliberations on Thursday in a gender-bias case that has drawn attention to the treatment of women in Silicon Valley. During closing arguments, attorney Therese Lawless told the jury to let defendant Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and other firms know that everybody deserves a fair and equitable workplace. “You are the conscience of this community,” Lawless told the panel of six men and six women. Jurors heard conflicting portraits of plaintiff Ellen Pao during closing arguments. Her attorneys said she was an accomplished junior partner who was passed over for a promotion...

Jurors who will decide the outcome of a gender discrimination lawsuit against a prestigious Silicon Valley venture capital firm are set to hear more closing arguments on Wednesday, a day after attorneys painted competing portraits of the woman behind the suit. Lawyers for Ellen Pao and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers said Pao was either an accomplished junior partner who was passed over for a promotion because of discrimination or a failure who sued to get a big payout as she was being shown the door. Company lawyer Lynne Hermle challenged Pao’s claim that she sued to help women facing gender discrimination at the firm. “The complaints of...

A sex discrimination trial that has put a spotlight on gender imbalance in Silicon Valley has prompted some technology and venture capital companies to re-examine their cultures and practices — even before a jury reaches its verdict. As jurors get ready to hear closing arguments in Ellen Pao’s lawsuit against the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, other companies have been contacting consultants about possible obstacles to women being hired and advancing. Still other companies have been seeking female candidates for partner positions. A verdict against Kleiner Perkins would likely accelerate that trend, some consultants say. Consultant Freada Kapor Klein...

The trial of a $16 million gender bias lawsuit against one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital firms had the potential for a dramatic showdown last week when plaintiff Ellen Pao took the witness stand. But experts say her testimony produced no big moments that could tilt the jury for or against her in the case that some say spotlights the gross under-representation of women at elite Silicon Valley investment companies. Pao was facing defense attorney Lynne Hermle, who is known for her hammering cross-examinations. But during questioning, Pao remained calm and composed while providing sometimes salacious testimony in the case alleging she was passed over for a...

A sex discrimination trial against one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital firms is providing a rare peek into the elite investment companies vying to fund the next Google and Amazon. Their partnership rosters are stacked with some of the nation’s most accomplished graduates— multiple-degree holders from schools such as Harvard and Stanford universities who are competing aggressively to back the next big technology company. But they are also places where women are grossly underrepresented. Ellen Pao’s lawsuit against Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers goes further, describing the firm as an old-boys club where women allegedly were excluded from parties...

The woman at the center of a sex discrimination lawsuit against one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital firms is set to take the stand in a case that has focused attention on the treatment of women in the high-tech and venture capital fields. Ellen Pao says she was passed over for a promotion at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers because she is a woman and was fired in 2012 after she complained. Pao’s attorney, Alan Exelrod, has argued that Kleiner Perkins had a male-dominated culture where women were excluded from parties, asked to take notes like they were...

A billionaire investor in a Silicon Valley venture capital firm is set to testify for a second day in a high-profile sex discrimination lawsuit that has accused the firm of being an all-boys club where women were denied chances to advance and treated as second-class citizens. John Doerr, a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, will again take the stand Wednesday in San Francisco Superior Court in the lawsuit brought by his former chief of staff, Ellen Pao, who says she was denied a promotion because she is a woman and was fired in 2012 after she complained and filed her lawsuit....