Venture capitalist Doerr testifies in Kleiner sexism case
By Sarah McBride and Dan Levine SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Venture capitalist John Doerr on Tuesday sought to fend off allegations of sexism at his firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, in testimony in a gender discrimination lawsuit targeting the firm. Doerr, viewed as the firm's leader, answered questions on why he noted the parental status of women, not men, in business emails, and whether he had said a male partner "needed a win" as a reason to keep him on a key board. Whether the firm supported women as much as men is a major point of contention in the case, which has helped spark a broad and ongoing discussion about sexism in Silicon Valley. In the suit, former Kleiner partner Ellen Pao alleges she suffered discrimination and retaliation after ending a brief affair in 2006 with another partner, Ajit Nazre. In one case, involving a new fund in China, Doerr said he did not recall why he had noted in an email that a partner there was a mother but failed to note that at least one of the male partners was a father. He also said he could not remember why he had noted in an email that another potential hire might wish to become a mother. Another incident involved partner Randy Komisar's board seat at patent company RPX, a firm Pao had championed as an investment for Kleiner and whose board she asked to join. Doerr testified, "Randy needed a win, Kleiner needed a win, everybody needs wins. I could use some wins." Pao did not receive a seat on RPX's board although she was responsible for the firm’s investment in RPX, even though she was responsible for the firm’s investment in RPX. Doerr answered questions about his efforts to keep Pao at the firm, in 2007, when she said she planned to leave, and in 2009, when she discussed becoming a general partner at Google Ventures. At the time, Pao described herself as Doerr's "surrogate daughter," while Doerr said he was "delighted" with her contributions. Meanwhile, Doerr, who said he had initially wanted to fire Nazre over the affair after learning about it in 2007, agreed to keep him at the firm after Nazre and Pao said the two could work together. But the firm docked Nazre's bonus. "The biggest punishment was I told him I had lost confidence in his ability to be a leader at the firm," Doerr said. The next year, Nazre was promoted to senior partner. Kleiner's lawyer, Lynne Hermle, is expected to examine Doerr later Tuesday. The firm has vehemently denied Pao’s allegations. Hermle said in court last week that the firm treated women fairly and did not promote Pao because she lacked talent. But Pao’s attorney, Alan Exelrod, said the firm systematically failed to promote women to senior investing partner. He said Pao excelled at her work, including lining up patent firm RPX as an investment. The company raised $160 million in an initial public offering just three years after Kleiner’s investment. Doerr joined Kleiner Perkins in 1980 after six years working at Intel. He is known for championing green energy, an area with a mixed track record for the firm. Successes like Nest Labs, the thermostat company bought by Google for $3.2 billion last year, have been tempered by disappointments such as the bankruptcy of hybrid automaker Fisker. The case is Pao v. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC, CGC-12-520719, in California Superior Court, in the County of San Francisco. (Editing by Christian Plumb)
