Silicon Valley firm 'discriminated against woman'

The trial of a high-profile sex bias lawsuit in Silicon Valley began on Tuesday with a lawyer for a former junior partner at a venture capital firm claiming his client was denied a promotion because of her gender and then fired when she complained.

In his opening statement, lawyer Alan Exelrod said plaintiff Ellen Pao was discriminated against in the male-dominated culture of Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers - the defendant in the case that has sparked debate over the treatment of women in the high-tech and venture capitalist arenas.

Exelrod said Pao, 45, had received erotic poetry and sketches of nude women from a senior partner at the firm, and another male employee interfered with her work when Pao broke off an affair with him.