San Jose, Calif. – Federal investigators stepped into the fray surrounding Hewlett-Packard Co.’s possibly illegal investigation of media leaks, as the company’s board planned to meet again to discuss the fate of embattled chairwoman Patricia Dunn.
HP revealed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday it had been “informally contacted” by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California concerning the company’s methods for rooting out who was giving confidential company information to journalists.
HP has operations in Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, Littleton and Loveland, employing about 5,300 people in 2005.
The Palo Alto-based maker of computers and printers said it is cooperating fully with the federal inquiry, along with an investigation by the California State Attorney General’s Office, which requested similar information.
HP’s board adjourned an emergency phone conference Sunday without announcing whether it would oust Dunn for her role in the investigation that may have used illegal means to spy on colleagues and journalists.
Dunn’s resignation now seems likely, said Roger Kay, who follows HP as president of Endpoint Technologies Associates, a market-research firm. “The right thing to do now is for her to step down, clear the air and let the company carry on,” he said.
Dunn, a former freelance journalist who has become one of the most powerful women in corporate America, ordered the outside investigation of fellow board members to determine who leaked information, especially as it related to the job status of former CEO Carly Fiorina.
