Ellen Pao loses gender discrimination suit against Kleiner Perkins

Gender was not the reason former partner Ellen Pao was passed over for a promotion at prominent venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield, and Byers, a California jury in Silicon Valley ruled on Friday. The jury also determined that the firm had not retaliated against Pao following her allegations, Time reports.

Pao's suit had asked for $16 million in compensatory damages from Kleiner Perkins, an early investor in companies such as Google and Genentech. The suit prompted intense debate around gender politics at play in Silicon Valley; Pao alleged that in her seven years with the firm, she was overlooked for promotions because of her gender, and subject to inappropriate behavior from male colleagues who went undisciplined. But Kleiner Perkins argued that Pao was a difficult employee who failed to improve in areas on which she was critiqued, and that she failed to build “thought leadership” with fellow employees.

Following the verdict, Pao, who is interim CEO at online forum Reddit, said she hoped her suit will still help other women working in Silicon Valley.

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"My story is their story," Pao told reporters. "If I've helped to level the playing field for women and minorities in venture capital, then the battle was worth it."