CNETHP settled claims on Wednesday with four reporters at the heart of a scandal involving claims that the world's biggest PC maker engaged in corporate espionage to plug a boardroom leak. HP and Terry Gross, the attorney representing the journalists, said the company would donate money to several charities chosen by the journalists as part of the terms of the settlement. They did not say how much.
"The matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, and we are pleased to put this matter behind us," said Hewlett-Packard spokesman Emma McCulloch. She said the company was pleased the money would go to charities.
The scandal, which came to light in late 2006, focused on allegations that Hewlett-Packard hired investigators who impersonated reporters, board members, and employees to obtain private phone records to find the source of leaks to the media in 2005 and 2006. The two sides have been holding settlement discussions since December 2006, Gross said. "It was hard fought to get to a resolution," Gross told Reuters. "I would have expected that they would have taken a tone a long time ago that was basically 'We did wrong. We should make up for it,'" he said. A separate lawsuit filed against HP by three CNET News.com reporters is still pending in a San Francisco court. Those reporters were not part of this settlement.
Question to former HP Board Member Tom Perkins by E-Commerce Times : Is it true that Carly Fiorina blames you for her ouster from HP?
RépondreSupprimerPerkins: She has it in her head that she would still be at HP if I hadn't returned to the board and led some sort of conspiracy to throw her off the board. That is just so wrong, and she should know better. On "60 Minutes," she said, "I have no idea why I was fired," which is incredible. The day she was fired, the stock went up about 8 percent. The employees were literally dancing in the parking lot. And before she got fired, a committee of directors went to her with a written five-page agenda that she stonewalled. Then I came on the board and a month later, she's fired. I don't know how that gets constructed into me firing her.
The ridiculous thing is, I respect Carly. I think she did a great job up to a point. If she'd just delegated a little more and not tried to do absolutely everything, she'd still be there."