During the emotional peak of Ellen Pao's cross-examination, Kleiner's attorney Lynne Hermle held an enormous board game on her shoulder, clutched at a Buddha and a book all gifts Pao and one of her partners had exchanged, offered as evidence.
Suddenly the gender discrimination lawsuit filed by Pao against her former employer, seemed almost funny.
Hermle chipped away at each of these, showing small but sometimes crucial moments when Pao could have voiced concerns to fix the issues she was having but didn't, instead only collecting evidence.
Three weeks into this trial, and, at times, it's
getting absurd. The day was a rough slog through now familiar episodes
in Pao's testimony that the advances of a colleague, Ajit Nazre, had
been unwelcome; that she'd received a book of erotic poetry and sketches
from Randy Komisar; that she'd been left out of meetings and parties.
Hermle chipped away at each these, showing small but sometimes crucial
moments when Pao could have voiced concerns to fix the issues she was
having but didn't, instead only collecting evidence.
In Hermle's recast of the events, Pao had ample
opportunities and support from the firm to address workplace drama. Only
after she was rejected from a number of job opportunities in 2011, and
heard about a fellow colleague's experience being harassed by Nazre, did
a plan emerge for asking the firm to pay her a severance. Hermle sought
to show that Pao's notion of "having her story be told" and creating
opportunities for other women only came in retrospect. The truth will come out no matter what
Just a thought.
Just a thought.
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