Stephen Hirschfeld was hired by Kleiner Perkins Caulfied & Byers to investigate sex discrimination claims which have been made by female employees. Mr Hirschfeld, of San Francisco-based employment law firm Hirschfeld Kraemer, has been taking the stand in a US$16m compensation case brought by Ellen Pao who was fired from the company in 2012 instead of fulfilling her expectations of becoming a senior investing partner.
A brand for each personality
Kleiner Perkins called in Mr Hirschfeld to investigate the claims of Ms Pao and ones of a similar nature from another female colleague. Mr Hirschfeld said that Kleiner Perkins, founded in 1972, changed from being 'a brand called KP … and it was more becoming a cult of personalities, and each personality had its own brand....It had become tougher … an aggressive, tough environment.'
Greener pastures
Employees were confused by the opportunities that might be on offer, said the lawyer. He said: 'People didn’t even understand whether there was a true partnership track, whether people move up, or do they move down. Were they supposed to spend a couple years as a junior partner and move onto greener pastures somewhere else?' Mr Hirschfeld, who is also Chief Executive Officer of the Employment Law Alliance, gave seven hours of testimony on Friday and is due back in the witness box today. Source: Silicon Beat
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