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The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

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Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was in reference to the quote and the implication that the two were equivalent and equal. Mentoring and being nice to a woman is very, very different than flirting with her. Implying they are the same is gross.

Ah, I should have seen that. I agree.

No worries, written communication isn't perfect.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#32

> That said, a Kleiner victory is well within the realm of the possible. Many women in the tech industry are concerned that Pao’s case is weak and that her accusations might exacerbate bias in the workplace. "I worry that it will make a lot more men feel that—being nice to and mentoring and trying to be a good person toward women colleagues—they, too, will be hauled before a jury," says Melinda Riechert, managing par…

Agree strongly with this: "Does anyone seriously think that was anything other than hitting on Pao?" Any man who is beyond college age, and who sincerely does not realize the meaning of handing out gifts and asking women out to dinner, is an idiot and should be removed from any position of authority. Emphasis on "sincerely" -- Randy Komisar is not that stupid, and his denials are hardly sincere. The line "his wife bo…

Most of my company are women. I'm a male.

Tell me how I'm supposed to talk to them, oh super sensitive sage of all gender interactions in all contexts forever.

How machine-like and sterile should I be? How many of their emotions should I deny in the pursuit of professionalism? Should I consult with a lawyer with every photon they reflect?

It's obvious you've never lead a single human being in your life. You just give them orders like they were some bot, and then pat yourself on the back for practicing equality.

You're simply too stupid to understand the alchemy of human relations.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#33
Stories like this make me feel ambivalent.

Gender inequality being brought to the forefront fairly commonly has definitely forced me to evaluate my own actions and words. It sounds silly (and it is because it's mostly beneficial), but I certainly treat female colleagues differently: I'm much more thoughtful about what I say and do, and try to be as explicit as possible if I think there's any way that my words/actions could be misconstrued. Thoughtful in a way that I'm absolutely not around male colleagues.

And maybe that's totally fine: I really doubt I'll ever regret being more thoughtful. I certainly do this to some extent with people from other cultural backgrounds, so applying it to people from other gender backgrounds (so-to-speak) is probably appropriate.

But it does absolutely setup this "othering" in my mind - I don't see Jennifer as just my coworker, she's my coworker and she's also a woman and I need to be cognizant of how I act and talk around her. I'm careful to think about my words and actions before they materialize, whereas with men I'm much more likely to just act/talk and explain later if necessary. "Asking permission" vs. "Seeking forgiveness".

I don't envy being John Doerr - unless Pao was an absolutely clear frontrunner for becoming a senior partner, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#34

> That said, a Kleiner victory is well within the realm of the possible. Many women in the tech industry are concerned that Pao’s case is weak and that her accusations might exacerbate bias in the workplace. "I worry that it will make a lot more men feel that—being nice to and mentoring and trying to be a good person toward women colleagues—they, too, will be hauled before a jury," says Melinda Riechert, managing par…

I think the author of this article made it (perhaps deliberately) ambiguous as to when these events took place. he gave Pao a volume of Leonard Cohen’s poems and drawings (entitled Book of Longing) on Valentine’s Day and asked her out to dinner on a night when his wife was out of town These could very well be two completely separate occasions. I suspect the author created this juxtaposition to elicit your precise rea…

This is why I feel it's just better to refrain from any sort of judgment on this case based on what you read in the news. You're right - as it's written, it looks like "Duh, he's hitting on her." But did he give a gift to everyone on Valentine's Day? When he "asked her out to dinner on a night when his wife was out of town", was it a date or a "Let's talk about a potential investment at a popular VC haunt"?

I have no idea which is true, and I don't think I'm going to be able to find out based on summaries in the news.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the author of this article made it (perhaps deliberately) ambiguous as to when these events took place. he gave Pao a volume of Leonard Cohen’s poems and drawings (entitled Book of Longing) on Valentine’s Day and asked her out to dinner on a night when his wife was out of town These could very well be two completely separate occasions. I suspect the author created this juxtaposition to elicit your precise rea…

Why do you think that? There are plenty of articles that agree the gift was given on Valentine's Day?

I think he is saying the dinner wasn't on Valentine's Day.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#36
post #23
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I downvoted you, because you purported to summarize the case for readers who haven't been following it, and then provided a very misleading summary. Pao's case does not revolve around delayed reviews, or who took notes in meetings. One needn't have an opinion about the merits of Pao's case to have a negative opinion about the merits of this summary.

What is the case about then? To me at least the summary seemed aligned well with the media coverage I've been following. But I'll admit I haven't had the time to read the source documents.

The case is about a woman who slept with a married superior of her and got preferential treatment thanks to this. Then, when they stopped, she decided to sue.

Every single one of her coworkers should be the one suing both of them for promotions lost due to her getting them by sleeping around.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree strongly with this: "Does anyone seriously think that was anything other than hitting on Pao?" Any man who is beyond college age, and who sincerely does not realize the meaning of handing out gifts and asking women out to dinner, is an idiot and should be removed from any position of authority. Emphasis on "sincerely" -- Randy Komisar is not that stupid, and his denials are hardly sincere. The line "his wife bo…

Most of my company are women. I'm a male. Tell me how I'm supposed to talk to them, oh super sensitive sage of all gender interactions in all contexts forever. How machine-like and sterile should I be? How many of their emotions should I deny in the pursuit of professionalism? Should I consult with a lawyer with every photon they reflect? It's obvious you've never lead a single human being in your life. You just give…

I'd say it is pretty easy to avoid buying them gifts on Valentine's day and inviting them to private dinners with your SO out of town.

If you can't help but spontaneously give gifts to attractive women on Valentine's day...I'm at a loss, I'll admit.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#38

I don't think this trial has much to do with larger women in tech issues. There's a lot of politics at play for ALL employees of VC firms and this doesn't sound any different. If you've been following all of the coverage of this case, Pao isn't coming off well. She states that it was discriminatory that she didn't get her review on time. Unprofessional to have a delayed review? Yes. Gender harassment? No. Instead of…

This is a women in VC story, nothing to do with women in tech.

VCs are the bosses of tech. VCs are the real executives in Silicon Valley and "founders" are upper-mid-level project managers in the world's first postmodern corporation.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#39
post #12

I don't think this trial has much to do with larger women in tech issues. There's a lot of politics at play for ALL employees of VC firms and this doesn't sound any different. If you've been following all of the coverage of this case, Pao isn't coming off well. She states that it was discriminatory that she didn't get her review on time. Unprofessional to have a delayed review? Yes. Gender harassment? No. Instead of…

I downvoted you, because you purported to summarize the case for readers who haven't been following it, and then provided a very misleading summary. Pao's case does not revolve around delayed reviews, or who took notes in meetings. One needn't have an opinion about the merits of Pao's case to have a negative opinion about the merits of this summary.

What is your concise summary of the biggest accusation that demands justice ? I fail to understand from the bloomberg article as it seems to make all accusations petty and even harmful to her case.

Re: The Ellen Pao Trial and Silicon Valley

#40
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the author of this article made it (perhaps deliberately) ambiguous as to when these events took place. he gave Pao a volume of Leonard Cohen’s poems and drawings (entitled Book of Longing) on Valentine’s Day and asked her out to dinner on a night when his wife was out of town These could very well be two completely separate occasions. I suspect the author created this juxtaposition to elicit your precise rea…

This is why I feel it's just better to refrain from any sort of judgment on this case based on what you read in the news. You're right - as it's written, it looks like "Duh, he's hitting on her." But did he give a gift to everyone on Valentine's Day? When he "asked her out to dinner on a night when his wife was out of town", was it a date or a "Let's talk about a potential investment at a popular VC haunt"? I have no…

Based on my reading of the stuff from the defense, that would have been the first thing they would have trotted out and the fact they failed to do so makes it pretty clear.

http://pando.com/2015/03/09/the-main-attraction-dispatches-f...

> Pao: I thought it was inappropriate, it had drawings of naked women, poems about masturbation and older men longing for younger women, and [Randy Komisar] gave it to me for Valentine’s Day.

I'd say any defense of that would make it pretty clear he gave out gifts to everyone and/or this book to multiple people.

But once again, its not relevant because my comment is in regards to the fact the article implies this sort of behavior is the equivalent of being nice and mentoring.

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