HP CEO Resigns During Sexual Harassment Investigation

A number of readers are letting us know that HP CEO Mark Hurd just resigned over sexual harassment accusations. The company's board has appointed CFO Cathie Lesjak as interim CEO. A contractor had accused Hurd of sexual harassment, and the board brought in outside counsel to investigate. While the harassment claim could not be substantiated, the investigation did uncover other misconduct. Hurd's "close personal relationship" with the contractor created a conflict of interest, and he was also found to have misused company assets. In a statement, Hurd said, "As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles of trust, respect and integrity that I have espoused at HP and which have guided me throughout my career."

Comments

Re:Wasn't he the CEO during the pretexting scandal

[OzPeter]

but sadly I'm guessing this is par for the course at this level of "leadership" in most companies.

Yeah but HP also had Carly who was forced to resign. Hopefully trouble doesn't come in 3's for HP.

**Sniff** I remember when HP was a well respected company and its equipment was built like a tank

I'd like to say "Unbeliveable", but I can't

[sirwired]

I find it hilarious/scary that whenever a CxO gets caught doing something stupid/criminal, the defense is always ignorance. These weasels who get paid more in a day than I get paid in a year suddenly become the most oblivious, ignorant, and stupid morons in the world when they are being investigated for wrongdoing.

It wasn't until the middle of the investigation that he realized he did something wrong? *retch*

Possible scenario:
He hires a mistress / "marketing" contractor.
Takes her on "fact-finding trips" in a company jet.
Dumps her / stops paying.
She sues for "harassment."
Board figures out the real story and lets him "resign"... in the meantime, they quietly pay off the mistress in return for her not filing suit. (Once you've gone public and filed suit with a high-profile case like this, you've just pissed away your best bargaining chips, which involve sweeping under the rug.)

If I was HP's board, I would not have let him resign; he would have been fired on the spot. Although I admit to being surprised that they didn't ham-handedly cover up the story; perhaps they learned their lesson with the wiretap fiasco from several years ago.

SirWired

Re:I'd like to say "Unbeliveable", but I can't

[Jah-Wren Ryel]

If I was HP's board, I would not have let him resign; he would have been fired on the spot.

That's because you aren't his neighbor, don't sit on the boards of any other corps with him, don't drink and play golf with him on a regular basis and don't have your own contract mistresses too.

Re:What info do we have on his...

[SDF-7]

$40 to $50 million by current estimates: http://www.businessinsider.com/hp-severance-2010-8.

Part of me wonders if it was actually in his contract that even on being fired for ethical/criminal reasons [i.e. not just fired because "we don't think you're pumping the stock quite enough"] he gets a severance or if the board just wants this over with / is such pals with him / whatnot that they gave it to him anyway. If the former is true -- the hiring committees really need to make better contracts (and stop being packed with the friends of the folks they're hiring... but I suppose that's what happens when boards keep cross-pollinating as they do).