Oracle Gets Mark Hurd And A Lawsuit Via Hewlett Packard
There was a huge scandal as Jodie Fisher, a consultant, accused Hurd of sexual harassment which led to the then CEO of Hewlett Packard resigning his post. Oracle took a chance on Hurd, not long after he left HP. You cannot just switch via one giant tech business to an additional, like Hurd is attempting to. HP has just filed a lawsuit against Oracle, as Hurd signed confidentiality agreements during his employment, and as part of his severance package from HP. Hurd is a giant among men in the tech industry.
Hurd and Hp can’t nevertheless be buddies
Mark Hurd was announced, as outlined by Reuters, as the newest addition to the executive team of Oracle Corp. He will join the board of directors. He will take over as co-president for Charlie Phillips, who is outgoing. Oracle is a heavyweight within the software and tech world. More software is only sold by Microsoft and IBM. After the acquisition of Sun Microsystems, Hurd can be in direct competition with his former employer, Hewlett Packard, which recently had a high profile bidding war with Dell for 3COM. Hurd resigned in August from HP after allegations of sexual harassment, brought by a previous consultant, Jodie Fisher.
Hewlett Packard suing Oracle foreseen by confidentiality agreements
Hewlett Packard and Oracle became competitors after Sun Microsystems was bought out by Oracle. Hurd is contractually bound, according to the NY Times, by discretion contracts, which may make him legally un-hirable by any competitor of Hewlett Packard, including Oracle. Hurd was known as a serious player within the tech field during his tenure at Hewlett Packard. Hewlett Packard became far more efficient under Hurd’s stewardship, and became a success story in the past five years. Even Oracle knows that. The CEO of Oracle, Lawrence Ellison, compared the departure of Hurd from HP to when Steve Jobs was at first fired by Apple.
This isn’t just sour grapes for Hp
Hurd does have inside information about Hp. That kind of knowledge can come to seriously harm them, and he may not legally be able to disclose it. You will find generally confidentiality clauses in executive contracts. There is no guarantee the lawsuit will go very far. That said, it may be worth it within the end, as Hurd has a reputation for making an awful lot of money.
Reuters
reuters.com/article/idUSN0724548420100907
NY Times
nytimes.com/2010/09/08/technology/08hewlett.html?src=busln
