Kleiner partner Mary Meeker says firm didn't discriminate

By Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Legendary tech analyst Mary Meeker testified she had never encountered discrimination against women as a senior partner at venture firm Kleiner, Perkins Caufield and Byers, as a trial that sparked a wide discussion about gender in Silicon Valley entered its fourth week. Kleiner called Meeker to the stand on Monday in San Francisco Superior Court in response to allegations by Ellen Pao, a former partner who says she suffered discrimination at the firm, and retaliation after she complained. Meeker first became famous as Queen of the Net in the late 1990s, after a report she wrote for Morgan Stanley predicted the power and shape of the then still exotic World Wide Web. She joined Kleiner in 2010 and helps lead the venture capital firm's digital growth funds. Meeker said she had never been excluded from Kleiner events, activities or opportunities at the firm because of her gender. "I think Kleiner Perkins is the best place to be a woman in the business," she said. Kleiner is best known for backing Amazon.com Inc, Google Inc, and other well-known technology companies. Pao has acknowledged a brief affair she had with a colleague, and says he then began keeping her out of important meetings after she broke off their personal relationship. That colleague, Ajit Nbazre, was the subject of a later complaint from Trae Vassallo, another female Kleiner partner at the time. Vassallo testified that Nazre showed up at her hotel room door in 2011, wearing a bathrobe and holding a glass of wine. After Vassallo raised her concerns with senior partners, Kleiner eventually hired an investigator and Nazre left the firm. On the stand, Meeker said what transpired between Nazre and Vassallo was "not a great situation." She also said she could not remember if she took part in the decision to terminate Pao in 2012. Meeker described Pao as "certainly more passive" than a male colleague who was promoted, "but I think very thoughtful." The case is Pao v. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC, CGC-12-520719, in California Superior Court, in the County of San Francisco. (Reporting by Dan Levine; editing by Andrew Hay)