Win Or Lose, Discrimination Suit Is Having an Effect On Silicon Valley

SpzToid sends word that the Ellen Pao vs. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers discrimination case wrapped up yesterday. No matter what the outcome turns out to be, it has already affected how business is being done in Silicon Valley. "'Even before there's a verdict in this case, and regardless of what the verdict is, people in Silicon Valley are now talking,' said Kelly Dermody, managing partner at Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, who chairs the San Francisco law firm's employment practice group. 'People are second-guessing and questioning whether there are exclusionary practices [and] everyday subtle acts of exclusion that collectively limit women's ability to succeed or even to compete for the best opportunities. And that's an incredibly positive impact.' Women in tech have long complained about an uneven playing field — lower pay for equal work, being passed over for promotions and a hostile 'brogrammer' culture — and have waited for a catalyst to finally overhaul the status quo. This trial — pitting a disgruntled, multimillionaire former junior partner against a powerful Menlo Park, Calif., venture capital firm — was far from the open-and-shut case that many women had hoped for. More gender discrimination suits against big tech firms are expected to follow; some already have, including lawsuits against Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc."

Comments

The irony of these comments

[Anonymous Coward]

Let's see...attacks on Ellen Pao's character, complaints that women are whiners,complaints that having women around is a pain, complaints that white males are somehow the ones discriminated against even though they hold almost all positions of power in Silicon Valley, misinformation that a gender pay gap doesn't exist, rationalization that women just aren't aggressive enough in negotiating (while complaining that aggressive women are you-know-whats), anecdotal accounts of how this one woman you know doesn't think this way so it must be true for all of them, fear that a woman's lady bits emit magic rays that weaken men and make them crazy...yep, all the pathetic, illogical, self-serving arguments are here. Okay, I added that last one, but it's pretty much implied. The comments on this story only prove the horrible, soul-sucking environment women across this country, and women in tech in particular, must operate in every day. You seek with these comments to discredit those who complain about gender inequality in tech. The irony is that in so doing, you so perfectly prove their point.