back to article HP's Hurd quits quickly on sexual harassment probe

HP boss Mark Hurd has resigned suddenly following allegations of sexual harassment. Hurd quit the $17m-a-year chief executive, chairman, and president post on Friday immediately following an investigation into claims of sexual harassment brought by a former HP contractor. HP said there'd been no violation of its sexual …

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  1. Captain Save-a-ho
    Pint

    And there was Joy in Mudville

    This day is probably the happiest day in the life of so many people. Big Fuck You to Mark the Butcher. Too bad they let him resign instead of just firing him.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    $17M ?????

    This b*****d has been milking a lot more than that. Normally $40M+.

    Good to see that after shafting everyone below executive level he has copped it big time.

    Anon for obvious reason.

  3. Martin 37
    Happy

    What was it like this time?

    I was in the HP premises in Bristol at the time of the announcement of Carly's departure. There was an astonishing outburst of cheering and applause. Someone had a trumpet and played something - I can't remember what.

    The overall feeling was summed up in Ding Dong the Witch Is Dead. Hurd was seen as 'mostly harmless' at the time.

  4. skeptical i

    He "kept a low personal profile"?

    For reasons which have now become clear.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Joke

        Shame about...

        ...the efficient execution though. I hear they have pills for that these days. Could the "efficiency" be why she finally complained?

  5. elawyn
    WTF?

    I'm in the wrong job.

    Give me $ 17m, plus shares. I'll resign immediately after sexually harassing anyone!*

    * except Mrs Bee. I'm not so stupid to risk that, I'd prefer to keep whatever parts still work firmly attached.

  6. jake Silver badge

    I'm confused ...

    "The findings of the investigation were that Hurd had a close personal relationship with a contractor hired by the CEO’s office, with the relationship never disclosed to the board. The contractor received compensation although there had been no justified business reason, and improper expense reports had been submitted by Hurd."

    OK, I get this bit ... Paying for a bit of stuff on the side on the company account. Big no-no, regardless of what field you work in. See Tiger Woods, for a rather egregious example.

    However, said bit of stuff is a hooker, no more and no less ... Seriously, she or he accepted compensation for favo(u)rs of a sexual nature, right? Shouldn't s/he be up on charges for solicitation?

    During the meanwhile, where does the "sexual harassment" come into it? Did Hurd suddenly start pointing and giggling at the hooker's body or sense of fashion or lack of business sense? Or did he come to his senses and stop paying it, and said bit of stuff decided to get vindictive?

    All around, very strange.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    oh dear!

    this means yet another mandatory training course on conduct in the workplace.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Oh Dear! "compensation... no justified business reason", "improper expense reports"

    Hated him with a passion.

    Goodbye shithead, hope they do you for something :-)

    "compensation although there had been no justified business reason, and improper expense reports had been submitted by Hurd."

    Lots of people will be smiling this morning.

    LOL

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    severance package after failing sbc course

    as a employee i am disgusted that a employee can get a severance package for failing sbc course ethics. just goes to show the employment goals for some people are different.

    maybe the uk will get pay rises after all.

  10. EDSer

    Good Riddance

    So after years of F***ing the employees financially, it seems he was also doing it literally too!

    Glad to see the back of him, but sadly the effects of his management style will be felt for some while yet. Let's hope this isn't over, and he gets more of what he deserves.

  11. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    I'm sure his $12m severance payment

    will go some way towards easing the pain

  12. Anonymous Coward
    WTF?

    Handshake

    So why does he get a $50m payoff when he defrauded the company? That's a fine example to set...!

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      Happy

      RE: Handshake

      Because the "lady" in question wasn't suing him, she was threatening to sue hp itself, and the company didn't want to be liable for an even bigger payout and the subsequent accusations of "defending sexual abusers" if hp had gone to court to defend Hurd. Hilariously, the lawyer for the "abused" claims her client didn't have a sexual relationship with Hurd, despite often "having dinner with Hurd" whilst on overseas trips.... Oooh, look! A flying piggy!

      Best line so far actually comes from the hp press release: "....HP paid the contractor's fees for services and her expenses [though] there was a question about whether her services were actually provided....." Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, ooh er, missus!

      OK, the hunt is on for the identity of the "abused" and the company she "worked" for. Info so far is she was working in marketting for hp, organsing events for Hurd, and was originally interviewed in LA - shouldn't take long to work out! Unfortunately, it doesn't look like she's an Indian working for one of the Indian outsourcers, which would have been just too funny!

      1. jake Silver badge

        Search over.

        ABC 7 news here in the Bay Area is reporting the name as one "Jodie Fisher", a low-budget soft-core porn & sometime so-called "reality TV" starlet.

        They also report there are no sexual harassment charges, just dipping his quill with the company ink. She is denying having sexual relations with the idiot.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Happy

          Wow she's hot!

          As my pay cut last year helped pay for this do I at least get to 'cop a feel'?

        2. TeeCee Gold badge
          Grenade

          "She is denying having sexual relations with the idiot."

          No doubt the denial concerned was written for her to read out on demand on the approved stationery, a well-stuffed brown envelope.

          1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
            FAIL

            Hostess-with-the-mostest should have been last choice!

            How did this manage to get past the HR people at hp? What a monumental failure to protect their boss and the company image, and who knows what damage it will do to customer relations! Didn't they do any screening of the people they were letting work up close to their CEO? Hurd was a complete idiot for looking at her CV and ignoring the soft-pr0n bits, that was just asking for trouble even if nothing had happened (just imagine how all those movers and shakers that went to those hp events will now be backing away at speed to avoid the implication they bought hp only because they were influenced by a soft-pr0n "hostess"). Whilst Hurd was a complete idiot for not seeing the problem (well, he probably just saw the opportunity, wink-wink), HR should have checked her background before letting her anywhere near the CEO. Even if Ms Fishing-for-the-big-one hadn't put her R-rated activities on her CV it wouldn't have taken much to find out about it. Whilst Hurd should have been booted out anyway, I'd be surprised if there isn't an HR manager somewhere following him (without a massive payout).

            Mind you, this does give every hp salesgrunt a great excuse for not closing a deal this year - "It wasn't my sales technique or the pitch, it's just they're upset they didn't get invited along on the trips with the pr0n babes!"

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    They got the bastard.

    At last, some justice (if you ignore the reported $40M golden handshake). This slimey sleazebag has been found out - shagging a minion and fiddling his expenses to cover his tracks. This is the last in a long line of dodgy goings-on at HP under his tenure - the phone tapping scandle ("I knew nothing about it!"), the Russin contract scandle ("I knew nothing about it!"), and several other less than honest incidents ("I knew nothing about it!"). The shafter gets shafted.

    I just hope this low-life gets hounded through the courts for his actions - well I can dream, can't I?

    Anonymous for obvious reasons.

  14. Pascal Monett Silver badge

    Resigned as soon as he found out, did it ?

    So it has to be true and, more importantly, it has to be rock-solid undeniable because otherwise, we'd get the righteous indignation of a poor, wronged millionaire CEO.

    There is now a big GUILTY sign hanging over his head.

    And dinner conversation must be rather bleak.

    Serves the bastard right. You can't screw everyone all the time.

  15. Arctic fox
    Flame

    Moral hazard anyone?

    Amazing, the guy engages in the kind of creative acounting with regard to expenses that would get any ordinary employee fired on the spot with no notice or references and he gets to resign and gets how much....? I have to assume that the reason why his type do not get sacked even when caught bending is that far too many top managers and directors think (in their heart of hearts) "there but for the grace of God go I". In not dealing with him they are protecting themselves.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    Culture @ HP

    Good riddance to him.

    He was blinded by greed, and it was his undoing.

    The most unfortunate thing is that the culture of greed at the top of the organisation will be hard to change, a culture fostered by Hurd.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Cultures of Greed

      Seem to be all to easy to bring about. Thatcher didn't make greed compulsory in UK, people joined in voluntarily and all too willingly,

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Whoo hoo!

    What's HP's tag line... Outcomes that matter... In this case never more true...

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Gates Horns

    Integretity minute

    After having to watch those god awful integrity minute videos at work I hope they will have integrity minute CEO edition ones added for his replacement.

    The announcement was the last thing to come into my mailbox on my way out the door for the weekend and it really made my week.

    Steve Ballmer with horns case they were out of Mark "The Lecherous Butcher" Hurd.

  19. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    i hear Bob Moffat is available

    Boards need to quit hiring cfo's who only cut costs to do the job of CEO's

  20. Ancient Oracle funkie

    Title

    Just wondered, as an HP employee myself. if I fiddle my expenses would I be allowed to resign and would I get a big fat pay-off?

  21. Miss Lincolnshire
    Welcome

    Bye Bye - I'll fetch your coat

    £17m? Try $42m in 2008!

    The world's greediest autocrat, sorry multi-tasker (President, CEO & Chairman) has gone. The fact that it the allegations include his having made financial mistakes is just the icing on the cake.

    I never thought that Mark Hurd would do anything to make me feel like I couldn't wait to get back to work on Monday.

    I stand corrected.

  22. SirWired 1

    Unfortunately not a surprise

    It's sad that this sort of thing seems to be par for the course for CEOs. He needed an investigation to TELL him that he did something wrong? Gimme a break. You don't resign from the world's largest company for some minor transgression. Sounds like he hired a mistress, paid her with company funds, fired her, she threatened to sue, and it all went downhill from there.

    The only thing that would be unbelievable would be if anybody took that mealy-mouthed "apology" seriously.

  23. Rainer
    Coffee/keyboard

    Ouch

    Why did he make the company pay for her?

    You can do that if you own the company.

    But a CEO is basically only an employee. 17 million per year or not.

    Too bad - he probably feared his spouse was not "tolerant" enough to pay his mistress himself.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Time for another Ethics Course

    Will this be on next year's Ethics Course?

    It would be a great example wouldn't it.

    Dear HP and ex-EDS/Compaq etc friends, beware!

    Remember, the Chinese saying "be careful what you wish for".

    Because the next CEO could be even worse.

    But let's all raise our glasses first...

  25. FozzyBear
    Unhappy

    WOW

    Reading the comments here about Hurd, makes me fall to my knees in thanks that I don't work for HP. To be so universally despised I am simply lost for words.

  26. Debbie7

    Nauseating greed

    Why fiddle expenses when receiving millions and millions of dollars in bonuses ?

    Greed. Pure and simple Greed.

    What about all of those who 'gave' ten per cent of their salaries to help pay for this.

    Hope they all get their money back.

  27. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    He was fired for a $200 dinner with a tradeshow girl

    You cannot justify a falsified expense report even if your secretary accidentally put it in and put the wrong name on the date.

    It makes business sense to set an example of defrauding $200 for dinner and paying him $50 Million in severance.

    Obviously the board finally started talking to the employee's and found out that everyone hates the "New HP" and got screwed by Mark. I don't think IBM gives everyone a pay cut...I even heard they still have yearly raises....just not what they used to be given the economy.

    I wish I would have been spun off to Agilent...I heard they are buying IBM Power systems now and were part of the Power7 announcement.

    EDSer keeping a low profile as I work on the outsourced IBM gear for a Fortune 100.

    1. SynnerCal
      Thumb Up

      Re: He was fired for a $200 dinner

      AC said "It makes business sense to set an example of defrauding $200 for dinner and paying him $50 Million in severance.". Yes, that REALLY sticks in my craw. Heck, if it'd been Sam The Engineer from Podunk, you can bet your last cent that he'd be kicked out of the door with no pension etc, and certainly no golden handshake! So why the f**k can't they apply the same yardstick to someone that's supposed show the rest of us an example. Usual bl**dy HP double standards - one law for the board, and one for the rest of the "common herd".

      Here's my advice/plea to the next CEO - stop firing people by the stadium-load (we're running out of people to actually DO the work!); reinstate the long-service awards (if people are the prime resource then do something to appreciate loyalty - and the l.s.a.'s didn't cost a lot anyway); bring back training across the board (a skill-current workforce is a useful one!)

      Lastly the article said "A 25-year veteran of NCR, Hurd cultivated a reputation of efficient execution while keeping a low personal profile."

      Aye, he managed to execute a lot of career's very efficiently - the git. I guess Wall St will miss him, although I'm very sure that any of the folks 'at the coalface' below middle management level will be dancing jigs around the offices worldwide, slightly tempered perhaps in the sure knowledge that we'll probably get someone worse.

      signed, Another "EDSer keeping a low profile as I work on the outsourced IBM gear for a Fortune 100."

  28. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Muahahahahahahaaaa!

    Imagine having that much money, and still being so utterly unattractive you have to pay for it.

    1. Matt Bryant Silver badge
      Happy

      RE: Muahahahahahahaaaa!

      New monitor, please!

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Party time

    fucking YES!

    Best thing that could have happened to this company!

  30. Anonymous Coward
    Happy

    Champagne was the only way to celebrate this news :-)

    The fact that he "volunteered" a paycut on the employees, cut training, employee programmes, etc, and basically decimated the workforce but still found it acceptable to walk away with ~$42million (in 2008) was evidence that Hurd was immoral and basically a thief!

    The fact that he was stupid enough to prove this to the world in such clichéd and scandalous fashion is just icing on the cake :-)

    As much as I don't like to wish ill on anyone, I'd love to be a fly on the wall when he tries to explain this away to his wife (a divorce lawyer, I've heard??) - looks like those millions will soon be half-millions!!

    You couldn't have dreamed up a better or more comical end to this guys reign of misery at HP.

    Good Riddance!!!

    LOL!

  31. tom 24
    Thumb Down

    17m per year...but...

    Damn, weren't they paying him enough that he could afford to pay for kept women out of his own personal income? Lame.

    (Yes, I know she denies it. Duh.)

  32. elderlybloke
    Thumb Down

    He is just another US CEO.

    First=The woman concerned has been in the news saying she is sorry he lost his job.

    The usually knee jerk reaction of the mass sedia - Sexual Harassment was just that, not factual

    He got the sack for fiddling the expense account.

    That is common practice over there, his mistake was not being cunning enough to get away with it.

    The whole board of HP now are the usual bunch of American Corporate degenerates - it is not the decent firm it was during the time of Hewlett and Packard

  33. CS

    Time to go

    It was time for him to go. Caught with his pants down, next!

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