Recently, Hewlett-Packard made headlines due to the company's investigation into the allegedly sexually inappropriate conduct of its former Chief Executive Officer, Mark Hurd. After an investigation, Hurd resigned and received a severance payment in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement. Hurd was subsequently hired by Silicon Valley rival, Oracle, for a top leadership position in that company.
However, some Hewlett-Packard shareholders have now brought suit against the company claiming that the corporate board "did not fulfill their duties in the ouster [of Hurd] and severance agreement." At the moment, the documents relating to these suits are not public, but they seek information regarding the Board's inquiry into the sexual harassment allegations against Hurd.
These law suits are significant in that they can have an impact regarding the liability of a corporation as well as its Board of Directors in terms of their handling of sexual harassment and discrimination claims against employees.
The full text of the Forbes Magazine article can be found here.