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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."
Sounds like a classy guy, but sadly I'm guessing this is par for the course at this level of "leadership" in most companies.
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He "realized there were instances" of misconduct on his part? More like he realized he'd been caught.
"As the investigation progressed, I realized there were instances in which I did not live up to the standards and principles..."
Thank goodness there was an investigation, so he could realize what he had done!
More like, at some point in the investigation he realized that he was busted and couldn't cover up or plausibly deny things. He was probably feeling pretty untouchable up to that point after coming out unscathed from the other little upset they had a while back.
Anyone else's skin crawl as they read the rehearsed and empty words? Reeks of a sociopath saying what he thinks folks want to hear to let him off the hook. Funny how many seem to make it to the top.
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 am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
And what info do we have on that golden parachute he will be receiving from HP?
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
While it pains me to defend this piece of shit, the truth is that the pretexting was the handiwork of Patricia Dunn (chairwoman of HP board at the time), and the Hurd wasn't involved.
Now that the Hurd is abandonware, will HP contribute the source back tot he community?
I've been waiting for Gnu to deliver the Hurd for the last 20 years, and this might be enough to get them over the hump.
...would like their good names back, now.
After what Carly Fiorina did to H-P, and the nation, and now this tool...hell, I remember when "hp" on the logo meant the very best in quality, not scandal and treason...
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
Had this been a "rank and file" employee, the said employee would've been escorted out of the building on the same day, no severance. Instead we get this loop that's just going to go lay low for a few months then move on and pull the same shit again, till caught... (rinse and repeat.)
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
I wonder what kind of golden parachute the board paid to make him go away quietly?
According to CNN, he could make $53 million in severance pay.
Note to self: Stop putting jokes in my insightful comments so I can get something other than +1 Funny!
Posting this anonymously since I work for HP.
Seems Mark violated the Standarts of Business Conduct (SBC). Every new employee has to study the SBC and every year these is a mandatory training on understanding this document. It kind of discredits both the SBC and the trainings if the CEO breaks his own rules.
Oh, and I hope they will find a new CEO who actually understands how technology works. Mark was not much better than Carly - HP now hardly does any serious R&D (except for HP Labs which actually does pretty cool stuff), preferring to buy established companies.
As an employee of HP, good riddance. The company's employees have been treated like dirt for at least the past two years. I don't think there is one person who sits within 50 feet of me who isn't actively job hunting. Sexual harassment is just one of his many offenses.
In Las Vegas, that type of contractor is called an "escort."
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
While Hurd himself has proven to be yet another spineless idiot with no moral compass, the General Counsel did not mince words:
(From CNET)
-----
Holston said the company's investigation revealed that the contractor had received compensation and incorrect expense reimbursement from Hurd as part of his attempt to conceal his relationship with her.
HP's board was notified of the matter after receiving a letter from the outside contracting firm on June 29. HP conducted an investigation with outside investigators and concluded that Hurd's conduct "exhibited a profound lack of judgment," according to Holston.
The amount of expenses involved is not material to HP, according to Holston. "The facts that drove the decision for the company had to do with integrity, with credibility, and honesty," he told investors on a call Friday.
----
For a corporate press release, this is practically ten-magaton nuclear anger. The only time I've seen something close is bankrupt corrupt company trying to throw the old CEO under the bus while trying to worm out of a shareholder lawsuit.
It only takes ONE "contractor" like this in a company to totally discredit any other incoming women, no matter how many times over they can prove that their technical qualifications and achievements were earned fair and square. People won't even bother to find out. They'll just *assume* she got her grades, degrees, honors and awards on her back, got men to do her homework for her, "managed" to take credit for other peoples' work in all other previous work experience, and just happens to "know what the words mean." Except that the a-hole men on the project will simply not listen, assume she's "got it all wrong" and then have to find out the hard way what her point was -- when the little boys walk right into typical traps for young players that she'd warned them about .... having more experience.
"contractors" like this piss me off even more than ethically-impaired sociopaths like Hurd. And for a *prostitute* like that to scream "sexual harassment" when he gets tired of her just makes a mockery of *real* cases of sexual harassment, which sorry -- goes on ALL the time.
He can have a consensual relationship all he wants, (I never recall a CEO getting fired over an affair) but HP found him using company funds for this relationship. That crosses the line into misconduct worthy of firing. It's perfectly legal to have a mistress, and not something a CEO is going to get fired over. But he should have paid for the whole fling out of his own pocket; too many CEOs treat the company treasury as their piggy bank. As if their outsize salaries aren't big enough already...
And apologizing to the managers and employees would be appropriate here; nothing steams employees more than executives only paying lip service to a company's "values." The non-apology wasn't worth the paper it was written on. (It wasn't until he was investigated that it dawned on him it was wrong? *blech*)
It wasn't harassment because she probably agreed to the whole deal (likely up until the point he decided to dump her.)
Oh, and the "no panic" plan doesn't seem to be working. HP is down 10% in after-hours trading. (Which makes sense... an abrupt CEO transition from an executive that by all accounts was doing a good job is going to be tough.)
I can't seem to remember ANY employee of a tech company that had anything good to say about the company they work for...
Well Done, Sarcastic Boy!
Now, off to the Alliteration Mobile!
Nanananannanana
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.
I can't seem to remember ANY employee of a tech company that had anything good to say about the company they work for...
I just want to preemptively get this in:
Google is not a tech company - they're an ad agency.
Wow, a 53 million dollar reward for sexual harassment, theft, and other misconduct to horrifying to speak aloud. Friends we are in the wrong goddamn industry.
If you can read this, I forgot to post anonymously.
$50e6 probably sounds very reasonable when you're accustomed to making $30e6 every year. It's funny, how small must have his fraudulent expenses been, compared to being paid over $100K every single work day. He probably feels like he just got fired for going home with an HP ballpoint pen in his pocket.
They wanted to be able to say, "No, your Honor, we didn't say we were pretexting, we said we were Pre texting."
Your god may be dead, but mine aren't!
Gosh, his corporate picture is terrifying! He's combing hair over from his right ear (as we look at it), adding various bits of hair, to pretend he isn't balding!
WIG! WIG!
--- Band: Joey Ultra
I'm guessing that the difference here isn't the accusations, its the fact that in Hurd's case, investigation based on the allegations turned up all kinds of misconduct against the company.
Sexual harassment allegations (especially when made by someone else where the alleged victim isn't backing them up, whether or not they have been paid off) can be difficult to substantiate even if true, and people in power can draw lots of false allegations -- OTOH, things like misappropriating company resources for personal use are often leave evidence that is far more cut and dried.
**Sniff** I remember when HP was a well respected company and its equipment was built like a tank
These days, the packaging is built like a tank's.
Most human behaviour can be explained in terms of identity.