SAN FRANCISCO – Lawyers in a high-profile gender-bias lawsuit against a Silicon Valley firm argued Tuesday that the woman behind the case 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.
The attorneys presented the contrasting portraits of Ellen Pao in their closing arguments before a packed courtroom in the case against venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Company lawyer Lynne Hermle challenged Pao’s claim that she sued to help women facing gender discrimination at the firm: “The complaints of Ellen Pao were made for only one purpose – a huge payout for team Ellen.”
Pao’s lawyer made his closing argument earlier, telling jurors the company had different standards for men and women that led to the denial of a promotion to Pao despite her accomplishments.
“The evidence in this case compels the conclusion that men were judged by one standard and women by another,” lawyer Alan Exelrod said. “The leaders of Kleiner Perkins are the ones responsible for this double standard.”
