Venture firm Kleiner's lawyer sharply questions ex-partner

By Sarah McBride and Dan Levine

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A lawyer for venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers peppered former partner Ellen Pao with questions in court Tuesday afternoon, but Pao stayed calm on the witness stand, answering with short, measured, responses.

"You understand what humble means, Ms. Pao?" asked Lynne Hermle, Kleiner's lawyer.

"I do," replied Pao, who is suing the firm for gender discrimination and retaliation in a move that helped spark a broad and ongoing conversation about gender issues in Silicon Valley.

"It would… mean someone who doesn't believe they're better?" Hermle asked, seeking to establish that Pao considered herself superior to other partners and was not cut out for her job at the firm that backed Amazon, Google, and other iconic technology companies.

"It would," Pao responded.

"Not being dismissive of co-workers' accomplishments?"

Pao agreed, without conceding the lawyer's underlying point.

Into the third week of this case, Tuesday afternoon's exchanges mark the first time that Pao has been on the defensive about her 7-year tenure at the firm.

Earlier in the day, she testified that she filed her lawsuit only after Kleiner failed to respond to numerous complaints.

"I had gone through every possible internal process I thought I could go through," Pao told jurors.

After an internal Kleiner investigation in early 2012 concluded Pao had not suffered discrimination, she sued the firm but continued working there.

"It was extremely difficult and very uncomfortable," Pao said about that time. She left Kleiner later that year.

Pao's lawsuit argues that she suffered discrimination and retaliation following a brief affair with another Kleiner partner, Ajit Nazre.

"You're not trying to blame him for what happened to you?" Hermle asked in reference to an incident where a taxi hit her in early 2006.

"Not this part," Pao answered, drawing laughs from the courtroom.

So far, Kleiner's case has tried to tread a fine line between acknowledging that Pao excelled in some areas, such as critical thinking, and arguing that she fell short on the leadership and interpersonal skills needed to advance at the firm.

Under questioning from her lawyer, Pao said that before filing her lawsuit she implored fellow Kleiner partners to address instances of unequal treatment for women at the firm.

In one email, Pao asked them to "imagine your wife or daughter in my position."

The case is Pao v. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC, CGC-12-520719, in California Superior Court, in the County of San Francisco.

(Reporting by Dan Levine and Sarah McBride; Editing by Christian Plumb)