HP launches lawsuit to block Oracle's appointment of Mark Hurd

by Steven Mostyn - Sep 8 2010, 05:48

Yesterday we reported on an otherwise humdrum burst of executive shuffling as technology specialist Oracle announced the appointment of ousted Hewlett-Packard (HP) CEO Mark Hurd as company president and Member of the Board. Nothing unusual there, you might think.

However, a mere 24 hours after agreeing to take his seat at Oracle’s table, Mark Hurd now find himself targeted by his former employer after HP launched a lawsuit to block the move – claiming that, by joining one of its main industry rivals, Hurd is in violation of a HP confidentiality agreement.

According to the lawsuit, Hurd left HP armed with millions of dollars in cash, stock, and options along with the condition that he would protect the printer and computer manufacturer’s trade secrets and would not work or consult for a competitor for a period of 12 months.

“In his new position, Hurd will be in a situation in which he cannot perform his duties for Oracle without necessarily using and disclosing HP’s trade secrets and confidential information to others,” outlined HP in its complaint.

In answering HP’s legal challenge, which was filed at the Superior Court in Santa Clara County, Oracle founder Larry Ellison has said HP is being “vindictive” and is showing an “utter disregard” for the industry partnership it has cultivated alongside Oracle. 

Hurd’s appointment by Oracle fills the void left by departing president and Member of the Board Charles Phillips, who had initially wanted to quit the company in December of 2009 but was persuaded to remain in his post until Oracle had completed its acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

Hurd himself left HP under a cloud of controversy after an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment logged by a former HP contractor. The investigation did not find any violation of HP’s sexual harassment policy, but did find he had violated standards of business conduct.

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