SAN FRANCISCO, Sept 11 — Ellen Pao yesterday said that she is ending her gender discrimination legal battle with a prominent venture capital firm by dropping her appeal of an earlier decision against her.
In the closely-watched case seen by some as a proxy trial of Silicon Valley sex bias, a California jury in March rejected Pao's allegations of discrimination while working at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.
Pao laid out her reasoning for ending the legal proceedings in an online post on technology news website Re/code.
“Seeking justice in the courts has been painful for me personally and professionally, and for my family,” Pao said in the post.
“I am now moving on, paying Kleiner Perkins' legal costs and dropping my appeal.”
The California jury found KPCB did not discriminate against Pao, who claimed she was fired after complaining about bias at the firm that notably backed Amazon, Facebook and Google.
Pao, who was ordered by the court to pay KPCB's legal cost, said in her post that “ultimately, I cannot afford to continue this battle and risk having to pay additional costs if I lose on appeal.”
In July, Pao stepped down from her job as interim chief of Reddit where she quickly ruffled feathers and provoked anger with the unexplained firing of a Reddit employee, leading to an online petition calling for her departure.
Pao took over as Reddit CEO after being fired from KPCB.
Reddit, which has more than 163 million users and describes itself as a forum for real-time journalism, said in a statement that Pao resigned “by mutual agreement.” — AFP
