HP CEO Mark Hurd Resigns Amid Sexual Harassment Allegations

Posted 08/08/2010 at 9:38am | by Justin Kerr

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The PC Industry isn’t one typically laced with sex, drugs and alcohol, but at least one of these allegations cropped up against the recently departed HP CEO Mark Hurd. According to sources inside the company sexual harassment allegations were leveled by a former HP marketing contractor, and while these were never proven to be true, outside counsel found him guilty of multiple violations of their Standards of Business Conduct. The specific violations relate to irregularities in his expense reports, and while the exact amount is unknown, HP claims they view it as an “integrity” issue rather than an issue of lost dollars.

A press release issued by the company has named CFO Cathie Lesjak as the interim CEO while the board searches for a permanent replacement, and her first official duty was to face the media late Friday afternoon. During the question and answer period it was revealed that the female contractor in question above was paid for services that upon review, may not have been provided as billed.

Engadget asked point blank if Jon Rubinstein would be considered for the CEO position, and while they had no official comment, he would certainly be an interesting and high profile choice. HP claims the removal of Hurd had nothing to do with the financial performance of HP, and the media call was simply to try and calm the fears of investors. HP stock dipped slightly after the news dropped, but has since settled up about $0.75 in afterhours trading.