Kleiner Perkins Did Not Discriminate Against Ellen Pao, Jury Finds

The storied venture capital firm did not violate the law.

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Kleiner Perkins Caulfied and Byers did not discriminate or retaliate against Ellen Pao, a former employee, a jury has ruled.

Pao, who worked for the storied venture capital firm for years and is now the interim CEO of Reddit, sued Kleiner on four interrelated counts: First, that that the firm discriminated against her based on her gender; second, that it retaliated against Pao after she complained; third, that it failed to take the steps necessary to prevent gender discrimination; and finally, that the firm retaliated for this lawsuit by firing Pao.

After several weeks of testimony and two days of deliberation, the jury, composed of six men and six women, has decided that the evidence did not suggest any of these claims. This is a major victory for Kleiner Perkins, which has maintained throughout the trial that it has a good record on women, and that Pao was fired for subpar performance, not her gender.

It is unclear whether Pao will appeal.