Kate Lowry, a former vice president at Insight Partners, is suing the firm, alleging disability discrimination, gender discrimination, and wrongful termination, according to a suit filed on December 30 in San Mateo County, California, and seen by TechCrunch.
Insight Partners did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Lowry told TechCrunch she filed the suit because she believes “too many powerful, wealthy people in venture act like it’s OK to break the law and systemically underpay and abuse their employees.”
“It’s an oppressive system that reflect[s] broader trends in society that use fear, intimidation, and power to silence and isolate truth. I’m trying to change that.”
Lowry began working at Insight Partners in 2022, after previously working for Meta, McKinsey & Company, and an early-stage startup. The suit alleges that, upon being hired, she was assigned to a different supervisor than the person mentioned during her interview.
She alleges in the suit that she was told by her new supervisor, who was a woman, to be “online all the time, including PTO, holidays, and weekends,” and to respond between “6 a.m. and 11 p.m. daily.”
Lowry says in the suit that this first supervisor “berated, hazed, and antagonized” her, spoke openly about a hazing that would be “longer and more intense” than what she put other male reports through.
Some comments the supervisor allegedly made, according to the suit, include “you are incompetent, shut up and take notes” and “you need to obey me like a dog; do whatever I say whenever I say it, without speaking.” Lowry also alleges that her supervisor assigned her “redundant tasks” and restricted her ability to participate in calls, while allowing less experienced male colleagues to do so. Lowry, instead, she alleges, was relegated to “administrative tasks such as note-taking and cataloging.”
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Lowry said she became “increasingly ill” because of the work environment and that her physician advised a medical leave of absence, which she was granted and took from February to July 2023.
When she returned to work, she was placed on a new team and, the suit alleges, was told by the head of human resources that “if the new team did not like her, she would be fired.”
In September 2023, Lowry said she got a concussion and took another medical leave and returned to work near the end of 2024. Due to some departures, she was placed under the supervision of a new person, where Lowry said her poor treatment continued. She also alleges that in 2024, her compensation was about 30% below the market.
By April 2025, she alleges she was told her compensation would be cut. In May of 2025, through her attorneys, Lowry sent a letter to Insight regarding her alleged treatment by the company. A week later, the firm terminated her employment, the suit states.
The lawsuit is reminiscent of Ellen Pao’s suit against Kleiner Perkins back in 2012, in which she alleged discrimination and retaliation. That suit offered what was, at the time, a rare glimpse into how women partners felt they were treated in venture capital. Though Pao lost that suit, it sent waves through the industry, and other women went on to sue major tech companies.
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