Ellen Pao, 45, accused venture capital firm Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers of discriminating against her other female colleagues in a $16m suit . The CEO of Reddit has told a court how she was pursued 'relentlessly' by a male colleague at a major venture capital firm before being frozen out after breaking off the affair. Ellen Pao is seeking $16million after filing a sex discrimination suit against prestigious Silicon Valley business Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers. The 45-year-old told jurors how she was excluded from an all-male dinner with Al Gore and felt 'very uncomfortable' hearing male guests of the firm talking about pornography on a private jet. In her first day of testimony, the plaintiff testified that one male colleague was 'relentless' in his pursuit of her and cut her out of email chains and meetings when she ended the affair. Pao is seeking damages from her former employer after claiming she was passed over for a promotion because she is a woman and then fired in 2012 after she complained. Kleiner Perkins has denied wrongdoing and says Pao did not get along with her colleagues and performed poorly after she became a junior partner around 2010. In her testimony, Pao said she was given a poetry book by a senior partner in 2007 that featured drawings of naked women and poems on topics such as the longings of an older man for younger women. The partner also invited her to dinner one weekend while noting his wife would be out of town, she said. 'I thought it was strange, and it made me uncomfortable,' she said. Pao acknowledged having the affair with a male colleague, but said she broke it off when she learned he had lied that his wife had left him. She said the colleague later retaliated by shutting her out of emails and meetings. 'He was relentless and eventually told me that his wife had left him,' Pao told jurors, explaining why she got into the relationship with him. The 45-year-old told jurors how she was excluded from an all-male dinner at Vice President Al Gore's apartment . When she raised the retaliation issue with management, a senior partner explained how he had met his wife at another company while he was married, and perhaps Pao could have the same outcome with her colleague, she testified. She said she repeatedly complained that the colleague was retaliating against her, but 'Kleiner Perkins continued to do nothing.' Pao, who became interim CEO at Reddit after top executive Yishan Wong resigned, said it was humiliating not to be invited to an all-male dinner at Vice President Al Gore's apartment and have to explain to executives she ran into that she wouldn't be attending. Pao lived in the same building as Gore. John Doerr (left) previously took the stand during the trial and discussed whether the firm discriminated against Pao, his former chief of staff . At one point, she said, she felt 'very uncomfortable' about a conversation men were having about pornography aboard a private plane. The men were not Kleiner employees, but had been invited by a senior Kleiner manager, who Pao's attorneys say was present but did nothing to stop the conversation. Kleiner Perkins' attorneys have tried to portray Pao as a chronic complainer who demanded credit for work done by a team, clashed with her colleagues, and twisted facts and circumstances. Her attorneys tried Monday to dispute that portrayal and establish their client's credibility and likeability with the jury. During her testimony, Pao said she had a disagreement with a female colleague, but they improved their communication after spending more time together outside the office, as Kleiner Perkins management had suggested. Steve Hirschfeld, an investigator hired by the firm to look into Pao's bias complaint, testified Monday that she told him that her relationship with the male colleague was not consensual - a contention Hirschfeld did not find truthful. The civil trial is taking place in California Superior Court in San Francisco county. Pao became interim CEO at Reddit after top executive Yishan Wong resigned.
Ellen Pao is seeking $16million after filing a sex discrimination lawsuit . Case is against Silicon Valley company Kleiner, Perkins, Caulfield & Byers . Pao, 45, took the stand on Monday and testified against former employers . Told jurors in the trial how one male colleague pursued her 'relentlessly'
But she was frozen out after breaking off the affair, the plaintiff testified . Felt 'very uncomfortable' hearing male guests of the firm talking about pornography on a private jet . The high-profile suit is taking place in county of San Francisco, California .