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Ellen Pao's already complex sex discrimination suit against Kleiner Perkins may have gotten messier. Pao says she was terminated Monday from her job at the prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Kleiner denies she was fired. Could the firm really have said anything else? If her claim is true, employment attorneys say Kleiner could be in deep water going forward.
The back story: About one year after joining the firm in 2005, Pao alleged that she was sexually harassed by two Kleiner partners. She brought up the incidents to senior partners and alleges that afterward she was denied promotions and left out of meetings held by male partners. In May 2012, Pao filed a retaliation lawsuit. Now she says she has been fired.
"Assuming that she was terminated, she would be claiming future retaliation, in addition to the first retaliation," says employment rights attorney Therese Lawless of Lawless & Lawless. Since she would be cut off from her livelihood, the firing makes her case stronger that Kleiner was retaliation against her because of her claims of sexual harassment, Lawless says.
Kleiner denies all of Pao's claims. The firm sought to have the case sent to arbitration but was denied by a San Francisco judge. Kleiner has appealed that decision. The firm also says Pao's assertion on the question-and-answer website Quora that she was fired and told to clean out her office isn't accurate. Kleiner says:
Pao's lawyer, Alan Exelrod, tells a different story. He tells Wired that on Monday Pao was cut off from access to company documents and computers, and told she had 30 days to transition off company boards because she would no longer be working at Kleiner. "We believe this is happening because she filed the lawsuit, that this essential firing is in retaliation. We intend to add those these issues to the lawsuit," Exelrod says.
Kleiner attorney Lynne Hermle did not immediately respond to phone calls or e-mails seeking comment.
If it is true that Pao had been fired, it could deal a blow to Kleiner's defense if the lawsuit moves forward. In the original suit, Pao could only claim missed opportunities for promotions and raises as damages because she was still employed. If she was fired, employment attorneys say she can file another claim for lost wages. If she can't find another comparable job because of her now-damaged reputation, they say Kleiner could be on the hook for those lost wages as well.
It's important to remember that we don't know who's in the wrong here, and we likely won't unless the case goes to trial. Pao's work performance or attendance may have suffered, causing the company to let her go. But firing Pao in the middle of this contentious dispute raises the stakes regardless. "If I were Kleiner Perkins, I'd be nervous," says Lawless. Firing someone, she says, "is the mother of all retaliatory acts."
Updated October 3, 2012 at 5:42pm PDT: Kleiner Perkins attorney Lynne Hermle had this response:
