美國風險投資公司陷性別歧視訴訟

SAN FRANCISCO — The esteemed venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, its star partner, John Doerr, once said, “is a family, with occasional disputes.”

舊金山——受人尊敬的風險投資公司凱鵬華盈(Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)的明星合夥人約翰·多爾(John Doerr)曾說，該公司“是一個偶爾會發生爭論的家庭”。

Maybe, if by “family” you mean one of those clans where everyone is fighting for power and wealth. In Superior Court here, the case of Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins is beginning to look at little like “King Lear,” or at least “Keeping Up with the Kardashians.”

或許吧，如果這裏的“家庭”指的是人人都在爭權奪利的那種大家族的話。在這裏的最高法院，鮑康如訴凱鵬華盈(Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins)一案現在開始有點像《李爾王》(King Lear)，或者至少是《與卡戴珊姐妹同行》(Keeping Up with the Kardashians)了。

For two weeks a former Kleiner junior partner, Ellen Pao, presented her evidence that she suffered from gender discrimination. Along the way, she portrayed the firm as a place riven by sexism and unseemly striving, and that heedlessly employed and encouraged an unsavory cad whom she had the misfortune to briefly date.

在兩週時間裏，作爲前初級合夥人的鮑康如提交了證明自己遭到性別歧視的證據。在這個過程中，她說該公司是一個深受性別歧視和不正當競爭荼毒的地方，還疏忽地僱傭並鼓勵過一名令人討厭的無賴。她還不幸和那個人短暫約會過。

Now Kleiner’s lawyers have for the first time the opportunity to defend the beleaguered firm in a sustained way, and on Tuesday and Wednesday they made the most of it. They depicted Ms. Pao, 45, as combative and full of resentment, the kind of co-worker who begrudges a colleague for tending to his dying mother.

如今，凱鵬華盈的代理律師首次有機會以持續的方式，爲這家身處困境的公司辯護。在週二和週三，他們充分利用了這一點。他們把45歲的鮑康如說成好鬥且滿懷怨恨，是那種會因爲同事照顧病入膏肓的母親而抱怨的人。

In this telling, Ms. Pao is less a victim of discrimination than a difficult and conniving employee who rejected advice to improve, and whom Kleiner clearly wishes it had tossed overboard sooner.

在這種敘述中，鮑康如更多的是一個難相處、放縱、拒絕忠告的僱員，而非歧視的受害者，並且顯然，凱鵬華盈後悔沒能早些將她踢走。

Ms. Pao is being cross-examined by Lynne C. Hermle, a partner in the Silicon Valley firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe. Ms. Hermle is well known in Bay Area legal circles for her success in defending companies from discrimination and retaliation claims. Part of her lore is that an opposing lawyer vomited repeatedly as motions persistently went Ms. Hermle’s way.

鮑康如正在接受奧睿律師事務所(Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe)硅谷分公司合夥人琳內·C·赫爾姆勒(Lynne C. Hermle)的質證。赫爾姆勒在舊金山灣區的法律界很有名，因爲她成功地幫多家公司擺脫了歧視和報復索賠。關於她的其中一個傳說是，因爲動議持續朝有利於赫爾姆勒的方向發展，對方律師多次嘔吐。

Ms. Hermle’s cross-examination was lengthy, patient and relentless, seeking to undermine Ms. Pao’s case in all sorts of ways. It called her cold, territorial, untrustworthy, entitled and either passive-aggressive to colleagues or maybe just aggressive — the sort of person who an office that depends on relationships would be crazy to promote to a senior role.

赫爾姆勒的盤問時間很長、頗具耐性且相當尖銳，試圖以各種方式破壞鮑康如提起的這樁訴訟案件。質證中，她稱鮑康如冷淡、有地盤意識、不可信賴、自以爲是，且對待同事不是消極對抗，可能就是直接對抗，並表示，對一家依賴人際關係的公司來說，將鮑康如這種人提升到高級職位會是相當愚蠢的。

Ms. Hermle said Ms. Pao had trouble with many others in the office. “You developed a very negative relationship with her,” the lawyer said, referring to a secretary. About another colleague, “Isn’t it true you called her a major problem?”

赫爾姆勒表示，鮑康如和公司裏的其他很多人都有過摩擦。“你和她的關係變得非常差，”她提到一名祕書時表示。關於另一名同事，她問道，“你曾說她是個大麻煩，是不是？”

“I may have,” Ms. Pao conceded.

“有可能，”鮑康如承認。

Another email from a senior partner to Ms. Pao said: “You seem angry and the affair has become personalized. This is always the kiss of death.”

一名高級合夥人在寫給鮑康如的一封電子郵件中說：“你似乎有些生氣，這件事變得個人化了。這種情況總是會導致失敗。”

Yet another email thread was shown where Ms. Pao complained to a senior Kleiner partner, Matt Murphy, saying that “I should have been informed of and probably invited to Friday’s meeting. It’s not only polite, it creates a better process.”

在展示的另一個電郵鏈中，鮑康如向凱鵬華盈的高級合夥人馬特·墨菲(Matt Murphy)抱怨說，“理應告知我，可能還應該邀請我參加週五的會議。這麼做不僅禮貌，還會帶來一個更好的過程”。

Mr. Murphy responded: “Seems like you are telling me what I need to do and that is not resonating with me.” He suggested talking in person, but Ms. Pao kept up the email barrage.

墨菲回覆說：“你好像在告訴我，我需要做什麼，但對此我並不認同。”他建議當面談，但鮑康如繼續用電子郵件狂轟濫炸。

Nor did Ms. Pao seem much interested in the cause of women in Silicon Valley. “Did you ever recruit a woman to a Kleiner portfolio company’s board?” Ms. Hermle asked.

鮑康如對硅谷的女性事業似乎也沒多大興趣。“你曾經爲凱鵬華盈投資組合中的公司招過女董事嗎？”

“I don’t believe so,” she replied. (She did however say at another point she brought in four female executives to help run companies.)

“我想沒有，”她答道。（然而，她的確另外說過，招過四名女性高管，來幫助經營這些公司。）

In better times, Kleiner paid for a speech coach for Ms. Pao in an effort to help her “own the room,” something the firm viewed as a priority. That paid off for her at the trial, particularly earlier in the week when she was being questioned by her own lawyer. She spoke clearly and loudly, and smiled frequently.

在形勢較好的時候，凱鵬華盈曾出錢爲鮑康如請過一名演講老師，試圖幫助她“成爲焦點”。公司當時視其爲要務。庭審期間，此舉爲她帶來了回報，特別是在她本週早些時候接受己方律師的訊問時。她表述清晰、聲音洪亮，並頻頻微笑。

Under Ms. Hermle’s assault, the smiles largely disappeared and the responses became more clipped. Her memory grew more faint.

但在赫爾姆勒的攻擊下，那些微笑多半都消失了，回答也變得更簡短了。她的記憶變得更模糊了。

Ms. Pao is asking as much as $16 million in damages, plus unspecified punitive damages. She wanted $10 million to leave quietly at the end of 2011, testimony this week revealed.

鮑康如要求獲得高達1600萬美元（約合1億元人民幣）的損害賠償，以及未指定數額的懲罰性損害賠償。本週的證詞披露，2011年底，她曾要求獲得1000萬美元，並保證拿到錢後安靜地辭職。

Ms. Pao’s husband, Alphonse Fletcher Jr., whom she met, married and had a child with during the years covered by the trial, is a Wall Street financier whose hedge fund is bankrupt and has been accused of fraud. The judge in the case, Harold Kahn, has refused to allow discussion of Ms. Pao’s financial motives in filing suit, but Ms. Hermle asked him on Wednesday to reconsider. He will decide by Thursday morning.

鮑康如的丈夫小阿方斯·弗萊徹(Alphonse Fletcher Jr.)是華爾街的一名理財師，他的對衝基金已破產，他本人被指犯有欺詐罪。在庭審審視的那些年裏，鮑康如和丈夫相識、結婚，並生了一個孩子。該案的法官哈羅德·卡恩(Harold Kahn)拒絕允許討論鮑康如提起訴訟的財務動機，但赫爾姆勒週三建議他重做考慮。他將於週四上午做出決定。

The exhibits in the case continue to pile up. Evaluations, self-evaluations, summaries of meetings, messages to colleagues, messages to colleagues about colleagues, messages to friends about colleagues — there seems to be scarcely a word at Kleiner that was not committed to paper.

該案的證據仍在不斷浮出水面。評估報告、自我評估報告、會議摘要、發給同事的信息、發給同事的關於同事的信息，發給朋友的關於同事的信息——在凱鵬華盈，似乎沒有一句話不是落實在紙面上的。

And the jurors were taking more notes. A painter, a physical therapist, a prison nurse — they all seemed rapt on Wednesday, as they have been all along. What they really think, however, will not be known for some time. The trial has not even reached its halfway point yet, and Kleiner promises many witnesses in its defense.

陪審員在做更多記錄。一位畫家、一位心理治療師、一位監獄護士——週三似乎都全神貫注，就像他們一直以來的那樣。然而，他們的真實想法在一段時間內仍不得而知。這次庭審甚至還沒有完成一半，凱鵬華盈承諾在辯護過程中將提供許多證人。