HP sues Hurd over Oracle job
By Jordan Robertson |
September 9, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
HEWLETT-PACKARD Co is suing Mark Hurd, the chief executive it ousted last month, to stop him from taking a top job at rival Oracle Corp.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a California state court, came a day after Oracle hired Hurd as co-president to help lead the database software maker's efforts to lure business away from HP. HP claims that Hurd won't be able to perform his job at Oracle without spilling HP's trade secrets and violating a confidentiality agreement.
This type of complaint isn't unusual in the technology world, nor is the confidentiality agreement that Hurd had signed as part of a severance package from HP that could top US$40 million.
Technology companies often require such agreements because workers walk out the door with valuable technical information.
But the stakes are higher with Hurd than a rank-and-file employee, and the lawsuit may delay when Hurd could start his new job.
The latest lawsuit also underscores the growing rancor between HP and Oracle.
The companies have cooperated for 25 years to make sure that their products work well together. But that relationship is straining now that Oracle, like HP, sells the computer servers that power companies' back offices. Oracle got into that business through its US$7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems last year.
Oracle is known for its database software, which many people use every day such as when they're pulling money out of a bank or booking a flight. The software helps firms organize and access their data. It gives them a map to all their information, so their computers know exactly where to find things.
Oracle is the world's No. 1 database software maker, and with the Sun business, Oracle is now among the world's top seller of servers, as is HP.
As HP's CEO for five years, a stint that ended after a sexual-harassment probe, Hurd was responsible for preparing HP's strategic plans and has intimate details about HP's profit margins and special deals it has offered customers, according to HP's lawsuit.
The lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in a California state court, came a day after Oracle hired Hurd as co-president to help lead the database software maker's efforts to lure business away from HP. HP claims that Hurd won't be able to perform his job at Oracle without spilling HP's trade secrets and violating a confidentiality agreement.
This type of complaint isn't unusual in the technology world, nor is the confidentiality agreement that Hurd had signed as part of a severance package from HP that could top US$40 million.
Technology companies often require such agreements because workers walk out the door with valuable technical information.
But the stakes are higher with Hurd than a rank-and-file employee, and the lawsuit may delay when Hurd could start his new job.
The latest lawsuit also underscores the growing rancor between HP and Oracle.
The companies have cooperated for 25 years to make sure that their products work well together. But that relationship is straining now that Oracle, like HP, sells the computer servers that power companies' back offices. Oracle got into that business through its US$7.4 billion purchase of Sun Microsystems last year.
Oracle is known for its database software, which many people use every day such as when they're pulling money out of a bank or booking a flight. The software helps firms organize and access their data. It gives them a map to all their information, so their computers know exactly where to find things.
Oracle is the world's No. 1 database software maker, and with the Sun business, Oracle is now among the world's top seller of servers, as is HP.
As HP's CEO for five years, a stint that ended after a sexual-harassment probe, Hurd was responsible for preparing HP's strategic plans and has intimate details about HP's profit margins and special deals it has offered customers, according to HP's lawsuit.
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