HP chair resigns amid probe fallout
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&u=/ap/20060922/ap_on_bi_ge/hewlett_packard_directors_49By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Business Writer 20 minutes ago
PALO ALTO, Calif. - Hewlett-Packard Co. shoved Chairwoman Patricia Dunn off its board Friday, severing its ties to a leader whose efforts to plug a media leak morphed into a spying scandal that has spawned criminal and congressional investigations.
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The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company will turn the chairmanship over to its chief executive, Mark Hurd, who was supposed to take over that job in January as part of changes announced two weeks ago.
But things have changed since then amid a wave of leaked documents revealing how deeply HP's investigators intruded into the personal lives of seven directors, nine journalists, two employees and family members of those targeted individuals. Dunn authorized the investigation and received regular updates, although she said she didn't realize HP's investigators were going to such extremes.
"Now that we know the depth of what has transpired, I take full accountability to drive the actions to set it right," Hurd told reporters as he announced Dunn's departure and reviewed what the company has learned about its spying program. He took no questions. Dunn had previously planned to remain an HP director after relinquishing the chairmanship in January, but now she is leaving the board entirely.