Since when is a Google search evidence of malfeasance? Someone on HP's board is on a power trip, when they feel they can hold a CEO's Google searches as evidence. The whole matter of Mark Hurd, a former marketing contractor and the HP board is rife with fetid intrigue. And anyone who has served on boards knows how easily this can happen. Too many cooks....

Not that I have any inside information, but at face value, a claim of sexual harassment by a former reality TV star, should be relegated to the low priority pile. The fact that celebrity lawyer, Gloria Allred, has been retained on behalf of the former contractor, Jodie Fisher, is what elevated the charge to one that could not be swept under the carpet. When the big lawyers get involved, you know they have real dirt.

The whole exchange of claims and counter claims who said what to the board when reminds me of a bunch of adolescents who are engaged in prurient gossip under the guise of fact finding. Stuck in the middle of a WSJ article on Hurd's exit was the statement that board members reviewed the Google searches made by Mark Hurd. They found that he googled Jodie Fisher and saw racy videos she posted. Next they are going to find out that they were friends on FaceBook.


WWDD? What would Dell Do?

However, both the accused and accuser assert there was no sexual misconduct, so why did the mere assertion of impropriety cause the ouster of the CEO? Could it be just accounting irregularity with an expense report to the tune of $20,000 which Mark Hurd paid back? Listen up, HP Board members, you need a reality check. Take a look at last week's business news about another CEO, Michael Dell. The SEC fined Dell Computers $100 million dollars because Dell (and his CFO) took money from Intel and misled investors about the profitability of the company. But Mr. Dell is still at the helm. Surely his financial duplicity would have been cause for an ouster, if he had had HP's board of directors.

The magnitude of Hurd's $20,000 financial impropriety is ludicrous by comparison. Who on the HP board was doing the math? They were way too busy being outraged. Since when is acting on rage a good business practice?

Perhaps Mark Hurd was out of line, but in MHO, HP's board not only went over the edge, they jumped off a cliff. I would feel sorry for Mark Hurd and his public embarrassment, but a $35 million severance pay should make the hurt go away with time. But seriously, you have to wonder about a Board who feels that Google searches are evidence of a smoking gun.