The Ellen Pao Verdict Is In

After three days of deliberations, a jury of Friday initially dismissed Ellen Pao's charges brought against venture capital giant Kleiner Perkins. All four of Pao's charges leveled against Kleiner Perkins — that she was discriminated against because of her gender, that it didn't prevent said discrimination, that it didn't promote her due to said discrimination, and that it ultimately filed her based on her gender — were initially rejected by the majority of the jury. However, upon inspection of the jury's breakdown on the fourth charge (that Kleiner Perkins retaliated against Pao by firing her), the judge learned that four jurors had disagreed with the other eight, and promptly sent the jury back to deliberate over Ellen Pao's final charge. (Update 6:45 p.m.: Jurors have voted in favor of dismissing Pao's final charge along with all other charges in the suit.)

Pao, currently the interim CEO of Reddit, could have been awarded up to $160 million if successful in all her charges against the firm.

Heidi Moore, the business editor at Mashable, Tweeted: "Everyone including the judge is looking at the jury like "what are you people DOING?" The jury apparently made a math error when concluding the result of Pao's final claim, reasoning that a 8-4 divide in favor of Kleiner Perkins meant Pao had lost. But 9 votes in favor of Kleiner Perkins were needed for the jury to officially dismiss Pao's charge.

Update: In an official Kleiner Perkins statement late on Friday, a company spokesperson said:

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.