Ajit Nazre

If "fun" means alleged LEGO hoarders and targets of gender discrimination lawsuits, European enterprise software giant SAP must be a fun place to work! Betabeat has been covering the arrest of SAP exec Thomas Langenbach, who built something "like a mini Legoland" in his San Carlos, CA home. We've learned that in addition to Mr. Langenbach, SAP once employed Ajit Nazre--who is a key figure in a major lawsuit filed against Silicon Valley VC firm Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers (KPCB). Former Kleiner Perkins investment partner Ellen Pao filed the suit, which in part covers interactions with Mr. Nazre after he moved from SAP to KPCB. Ms. Pao makes some tough allegations against Mr. Nazre, alleging they had a personal relationship and claiming that after it ended, he "[...] started a consistent pattern of retaliation against her” which lasted more than 5 years. In the same suit Ms. Pao also accuses Mr. Nazre of harassing several other women. She also states Mr. Nazre left KPCB in 2011 after an independent investigation into harassment claims.

Before Ajit Nazre was a partner at KPCB he was at SAP, where he worked for SAP's C.E.O., co-founder and chairman, Hasso Plattner. Mr. Nazre, whom Ms. Pao accuses of multiple "sexually harassing actions" during her time at KPCB, "co-founded SAPMarkets in 2000 [...] and served as managing director of SAPMarkets. In 2002, he was named senior vice president of SAP’s New Venture Unit, SAP Inspire."

Mr. Langenbach, LEGO fan and Target customer, has been with SAP since the late 1980s. His LinkedIn bio says he has been VP of SAP's Integration and Certification Center.

SAP is a large company so, wisecracks aside, there's no direct evidence at the moment Mr. Langenbach ever worked or even had LEGO-building/retaliation parties with Mr. Nazre.

Mr. Exelrod, Ms. Pao's attorney (rezlaw.com)

The "sexism in tech" debate is about to get new legs with the news that Ellen Pao, a partner at VC firm Kleiner Perkins, is suing the company for sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

Ms. Pao has been an investment partner at Kleiner Perkins since 2005 and is in charge of a host of digital ventures in the company's portfolio, including magazine reading iPad app Flipboard.

Ms. Pao is represented by San Francisco attorney Alan B. Exelrod, who has extensive experience in successfully prosecuting sexual harassment suits, including the seminal 1994 case Weeks vs. Baker & McKenzie.

"This case concerns KPCB's discriminatory treatment of [Ms. Pao] and other female employees, specifically in advancement and compensation, because of their gender," reads the suit, unearthed by TechCrunch. "Moreover, [Ms. Pao] experienced continuing retaliation after she complained about sexual harassment to the highest level of management at KPCB."

The document goes on to allege that a fellow partner, Ajit Nazre, continually sexually harassed Ms. Pao beginning as early as 2006. When Ms. Pao rebuffed his advances, the suit alleges that Mr. Nazre retaliated against her for more than five years, excluding her from business meetings and failing "to share information required for her job." Instead of listening to Ms. Pao's complaints to management, Ms. Pao alleges that KPCB instead promoted Mr. Nazre and asked Ms. Pao to relocate to China, which she refused.

Following multiple complaints from different KPCB employees about sexual harassment, Mr. Nazre left the company in December 2011.

Kleiner Perkins told TechCrunch,  "The firm believes the lawsuit is without merit and intends to vigorously defend the matter. The Firm has been a diversity pioneer in its industry and was one of the first venture capital firms to hire women as partners." Of course, just because you hire women doesn't mean you treat them equally.

We've also reached out to both Kleiner Perkins and Ms. Pao's lawyer and will update when we hear more.

Update: A tipster wrote in to clarify: "Harassment is an allegation in the complaint but not a legal claim.  Those claims are discrimination and retaliation."