Ellen Pao is a 7-year investment partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. She is suing the firm, citing sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
In the complaint filed May 10 in San Francisco Superior Court (which is embedded below in its entirety), Pao claims that she was the victim of sexual harassment by Ajit Nazre, a former Kleiner Perkins investment partner who departed the firm late last year. When contacted today, a Kleiner Perkins spokesperson declined to detail the specifics of why he departed.
The suit also alleges that she, along with other female employees at the firm, were regularly left out of meetings held by the firm’s male partners and that she was unfairly passed over for promotions because of her gender and her response to Nazre’s advances. High profile Kleiner Perkins partners John Doerr, Ray Lane, Bing Gordon, Ted Schlein, Chi-Hua Chien, are among those named in the suit.
Her full complain is linked here. And here is a screenshot in which she details one of the many incidents to which she was allegedly subjected.
Who is the “Senior Partner” implicated in the complaint? Kleiner Perkins only lists one such person:
Former Vice President Al Gore is co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, a partnership that is focused on a new approach to sustainable investing. He is also co-founder and chairman of Current TV, an Emmy Award-winning, independent cable and satellite television news and information network based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism. In addition, Gore is a senior partner with the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a member of the board of directors of Apple and senior adviser to Google.
A year prior to the incident involving Ellen Pao, a masseuse accused former Vice President Gore of demanding that she “release his chakra.” And a few weeks prior to that, Gore and his wife of 40 years, Tipper, filed for divorce.
Pao’s suit could snare more than Gore. John Doerr, a partner with Kleiner named in the suit, is also a major Democratic donor.
Venture capitalist? I thought only evil Reps were venture capitalists.
Nothing to see here. Move along, move along.
And how much press would this get if the “senior partner” were a Republican?
You couldn’t find a mineshaft deep enough to hide from the wall-to-wall coverage!
Al, you’re no Bill Clinton.
Doerr was mentioned in Peter Schweizer’s “Throw Them All Out”.
As much as I detest Gore, most women file such suits just to get attention and sympathy.
Feminist laws encourage them to sue wealthy entities and people (it doesn’t get much wealthier than Kleiner) to get settlements.
It may be that some do, I am sure your right. But most, what is your evidence? A law suit ends up in the public domain and this aspect of an potential employee has to has to be weighed by all future potential employers. Here as elsewhere there is no free lunch.
I thought it was “hey – take care of this!”
A year prior to the incident involving Ellen Pao, a masseusse accused former Vice President Gore of demanding that she “release his chakra.” And a few weeks prior to that, Gore and his wife of 40 years, Tipper, filed for divorce.
Pao’s suit could snare more than Gore. John Doerr, a partner with Kleiner named in the suit, is also a major Democratic donor.
When contacted today, a Kleiner Perkins spokesperson declined to detail the specifics of why he departed.
So, what can we learn from all this?
a)Nothing runs like a Doerr?
b)When Democratic Party Presidential Candidates settle with the women they wage war on, they obtain a full settlement and release my chakra document to sign?
c)Ms Pao would have been allowed to sit in on meetings, if she did so as a Cherokee? Cross-legged? And wrote cookbook, PaoWowChow? Or maybe KungPaoWowChow?
d)If Al Gore was part of the Obama administration, his antics as a sex poodle might have landed him on the menu?
e)Al Gore invented the misogynet?
Your comments are really funny.
Apparently a Kleiner Perkins Hope&Change! is a men’s only activity.
Aw, c’mon! If Gore invites the babes to the business mtgs, next they’ll want to golf with the clients, too. Why, even Obama won’t stand for that!
Well folks, we all know that papers like the SF Chron are gonna go apestool with this one. Just in case they don’t however, rumor has it that the Chron has a really good comments column. I’ve been kicked out so many times I’ve run out of screen names but have at it folks SFGate.com.
The interesting tale
of Ellen Pao
A poster child for women in the “THEN”
But quite invisible for the women in the “NOW”
You see, you can be groped, fondled
Passed over, pushed flat
As long as the misogynist
Is a leftist Democrat.
You can be hustled
Out-muscled,
Petted, patted and tussled
on your head, and places you’ve bustled
In The War on Women
They can hand you your hat
If you dare to complain
On “made man” Democrat
So take a stroll on the coast
Pass the village that’s quaint
Their media will cover
Not one word of complaint
Stain a blue dress
Hide the love child for him
If you let him drive on a bridge
Make sure you can swim
See, in this War Against Women
And for all of its sins
Pick a fight against leftists
The man always wins
well done
Couldn’t happen to a “nicer” guy. He’s going to have to make good use of his legal firm to defend himself from this one, especially in a place like San Francisco, where the complaint was filed. And if this woman is also gay, then Gore better cough up some serious cash to make this go away. Stinks to be you, Al.
The billionaires at Kleiner Perkins one day will find out where crony capitalism gets you. But the taxpayer will take most of the losses, that’s the glorious thing about Crony Capitalism. The ultimate downside for them is that the fake science of Environmentalism won’t sell like the science of microcircuitry, sillicone gates and thin film.
First the allegations against Al, who commands center stage as the Big Chicken of the global sky-is-falling bidness, were bad enough. Now this guy. Could it be that bleating sayings of doom turns a man on?
Al Gore, post assault on a legitimate masseuse in hotel room, is henceforth and forever to be known as the crazed sex poodle.
That’s really the sum of the man.
In the news of late, Al has a new girlfriend, poor deluded girl.
When it comes to sexual aerobics, the Goracle is on a par with the former socialist leader in France, DSK, Dominique Strauss-Khan.
Weird and kinky applies beyond his political ideas or his take on the polar bear population.
You’re using that term, “man”, rather loosely, aren’t you?
Hmmm….there are a number of ‘Senior Partners’ listed in the complaint. Al Gore is listed as as ‘Investment Partner’ at several places on the KPCB website; he’s listed as a ‘Senior Partner’ at only one place that I found (and that is in a text description). Based on the complaint, it seems that ‘Junior Partner’ and ‘Senior Partner’ are employee titles of the firm. As I don’t believe Mr. Gore is an employee of KPCB, it appears that the ‘Senior Partner’ reference may be an error.
As such, it is a great stretch (based on this article) to claim that Al Gore is the referenced person in 32. Even of he is, what did he do? Take a business trip with the Plaintiff? An outside Investment Partner surely would not be involved in employee matters such as who would attend evening meetings. There simply doesn’t appear to be any ‘there’ there. Unless Mr. Preston knows something else, I’m very disappointed in this article, as it clearly falls short of the standards expected of PJ Media; however, it would fit perfectly with the standards of Daily Kos or the NY Times.
Sorry for the double post – just can’t figure out these computer thingies…
Hmmm….there are a number of ‘Senior Partners’ listed in the complaint. Al Gore is listed as as ‘Investment Partner’ at several places on the KPCB website; he’s listed as a ‘Senior Partner’ at only one place that I found (and that is in a text description). Based on the complaint, it seems that ‘Junior Partner’ and ‘Senior Partner’ are employee titles of the firm. As I don’t believe Mr. Gore is an employee of KPCB, it appears that the ‘Senior Partner’ reference may be an error.
I’m certainly no fan of ManBearPig. However, it appears a great stretch (based on this article) to claim that Al Gore is the referenced person in 32. Even of he is, what did he do? Take a business trip with the Plaintiff? An outside Investment Partner surely would not be involved in employee matters such as who would attend evening meetings. There simply doesn’t appear to be any ‘there’ there. Unless Mr. Preston knows something else, I’m very disappointed in this article as it clearly falls short of the standards expected of PJ Media; however, it would fit perfectly with the standards of Daily Kos or the NY Times.
Lonestar–
I tend to agree with you that this article is severely lacking. I believe the conference referenced is the Alpha Institutes CIO Summit, in New York. The time-frame is right.
Some info here:
http://www.alpha-institutes.com/main/bbs/board.php?bo_table=2_01
I looked over a copy of the agenda and it doesn’t reference the firm in question on any panels or Former Vice President Gore. That’s not evidence, but it suggests that he did not attend. A conference of a few hundred people being attended by Mr. Gore would likely warrant a mention. A few photos from the event don’t obviously show Mr. Gore in attendance.
From the panelists and other attendees I haven’t found any that are very heavy users of social media except for a few that started recently, so I don’t see any confirmation there.
Mr. Gore’s travel schedule at that point is not obvious – no major interviews except several quotes from the week before regarding Apple CEO Steve Job’s death (Mr. Gore is a board member of Apple).
All in all, don’t see anything to suggest the suit is referencing Gore. It could be that PJ media received a tip or has inside information, but it could also be that this is just another lawsuit relating to the obviously dysfunctional venture capital/high finance/good old boy network.
Isn’t venture capitalist like a hedge fund shark?
> Isn’t venture capitalist like a hedge fund shark?
VC and Hedge Funds are linked, and similar in that they both invest in start-up businesses.
I bet my chakra is bigger than yours, Al.
One of the partners named in her suit (I guess I shouldn’t say which one) was my boss’s boss at Electronic Arts many years ago. He made unsavory racial references to Michael Jordan while EA was preparing to make millions from the Jordan-Bird video game at the time..adolescents, many of these folks.
I’ve always suspected Gore to be a borderline psychopath. It became apparent after losing the 2000 election when he gained weight, grew a beard, started wearing plaid shirts and began resembling a fat lumberjack. Maybe guilt over accepting an Oscar for that cartoon he passed off as a movie has finally driven him over the edge.
Or maybe he can’t deal with the fact that his entire global warming fraud is being steadily dismantled by people who actually understand the scientific method.
Poor Al. Lost an election due to a hanging chad and a masseuse due to a hanging chakra.
How could Gore, inventor of Love Story, the Internet and the entire green movement allow himself to be involved with the scuzzy activities of business. One thing is certain: Gore would never have ventured any of his capital.
First the rape of the Masseuse a couple of years ago for which Tipper divorced him, now this. I just wonder how much more he has done that has gone unreported,while this evil puppet has put forth his Global Warming scam across
the globe ?
Sounds like a rather inconvenient truth for old Al.
I’m no Gore fan, never was but many such lawsuits are simply to get something for nothing. NO trial, give both sides lie detector test.
At least when Clinton harassed somebody he got laid.
Yeah, but that wasn’t sex, remember?!
Someone should check Gore’s garden for dead hookers.
Close on Clinton , but no cigar. Although there was much disdain.