Pao vs KPCB

The Ellen Pao verdict is in. According to sfgate.com:

The jury sided with Kleiner Perkins on all four claims, finding that the firm:
• Did not discriminate against Pao because of her gender by failing to promote her or firing her.
• Took all reasonable steps to prevent gender discrimination against her.
• Did not retaliate against Pao by failing to promote her after she raised concerns about the position of women at Kleiner Perkins or filed the lawsuit.
• Did not retaliate against Pao by firing her after she raised concerns about the position of women at Kleiner Perkins or filed the lawsuit.

This clear-cut and unambiguous decision did not prevent the gender Stasi from trying to spin the verdict to mean the opposite of what it meant. As sfgate continues:

“Ellen Pao’s case is a win [?] for any woman facing gender discrimination and harassment in the workplace, in Silicon Valley and beyond,” said Felicia Medina, a San Francisco managing partner at Sanford Heisler Kimpel who has worked on several large gender discrimination cases. “The curtain has been pulled back [gasp], providing a rare glimpse into the lack of equal employment opportunities for women in Silicon Valley.”

The NYT chimed in breathlessly:

The decision handed Kleiner a sweeping victory in a case that had mesmerized Silicon Valley with its salacious details while simultaneously amplifying concerns about the lack of diversity in the technology industry.

Funny, I thought the outcome of the case, rather than "amplifying" concerns about the lack of diversity, helped lay them to rest. As an aside, I have to comment that, if what went on between a fairly geeky Ellen Pao (IMHO, at any rate) and a bunch of middle-aged VC's qualifies as "salacious," then I guess I have been seriously overestimating the excitement level in New York.

KPCB released its own statement after the verdict:

Today’s verdict reaffirms that Ellen Pao’s claims have no legal merit. We are grateful to the jury for its careful examination of the facts. There is no question gender diversity in the workplace is an important issue. KPCB remains committed to supporting women in venture capital and technology both inside our firm and within our industry.

I would have simply remarked that "After careful examination of the facts, the jury determined that Ellen Pao's claims had no legal merit" and left it at that. The additional statements to the effect that "gender diversity in the workplace is an important issue" and that "KPCB remains committed to supporting women" are unseemly and unnecessary concessions that will buy no respite for KPCB from the onslaught of the gender harpies.

If KPCB had felt the need for any additional commentary on the verdict, then, what they should have said instead is: "KPCB remains committed to hiring and promoting the most intelligent, talented, hard-working people possible regardless of sex, race, sexual orientation, or any other accidental characteristic." If, instead, Silicon Valley starts hiring/promoting people because of these various characteristics, then, Silicon Valley is doomed. The goal of business then will be not the pursuit of excellence, but merely the dispensation of patronage to various special interest groups.

In an earlier blog post condemning the attempts of Jesse Jackson to strong arm high tech companies into hiring more blacks simply because they are black, I wrote:

It is time for Silicon Valley executives to stand up and defend their hiring practices. These practices are meritocratic in nature and disregard such inessential characteristics as race, gender, and sexual orientation. As Chief Justice John Roberts famously wrote, "[T]he way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race." If Jesse Jackson is allowed to exercise his disgusting brand of racial coercion at high-tech companies, then we are seeing not the end, but just the beginning of racial discrimination in Silicon Valley.

The same argument applies to misguided and, in their own way, prejudiced efforts to promote gender diversity as an end in and of itself. The way to stop discriminating on the basis of gender is to stop discriminating on the basis of gender. KPCB's goal should not be to promote women in the workplace simply because they are women, but to promote the best and brightest, period. Be they women or be they men.