Reddit interim CEO Ellen Pao has no regrets about her ultimately unsuccessful lawsuit against her former employer Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, she said at the Code Conference today in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Ellen Pao ‘Didn’t Plan on Becoming a Symbol’ for Women in Tech (Video)
“I’m a person who told her story, and that has allowed others to feel more comfortable telling their stories.”
Asa Mathat for Re/code
“It was something that I had thought about deeply beforehand,” Pao said. “It was harder than I thought it would be, [but] I was warned it would be really hard.”
The upshot of the case for her, even though she “didn’t plan” on it, was that she may have become a symbol … of sorts.
“I’m a person who told her story, and that has allowed others to feel more comfortable telling their stories,” Pao said.
There was a negative side to that symbolism, however. When she sued Kleiner Perkins, Pao added, some people wouldn’t talk to her or didn’t want to be seen with her.
“You have to have a lot of conviction that you were right,” she said of the mindset behind challenging a tech institution like Kleiner.
The story may not be over yet: Pao has until June 8 to appeal her case. But she said she hasn’t decided yet if she will appeal.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
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