Pretext Message: HP Settles Leaks Cases with Media Outlets

Company says it is cooperating fully in remaining investigations

By Dennis Schaal

Hewlett-Packard confirmed that it recently settled lawsuits brought by the New York Times and Business Week that grew out of HP’s improper boardroom leaks investigation, which employed fraudulent means to obtain journalists’ phone records.

“The matter has been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties, and we are pleased to put this matter behind us,” HP said in a prepared statement. “HP also is pleased that the New York Times Co. and Business Week decided to donate all or some of the portion of the settlement to charity, although HP was not consulted about the charities selected.”

Terms of the settlements were not disclosed.

HP, headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., has settled several cases growing out of the “pretexting” incident, when its investigators misrepresented themselves and obtained the phone records of the company’s own directors, as well as journalists.

The scandal led to the departure of then-chairwoman Patricia Dunn and other company officials, and put privacy issues and HP’s governance practices under the microscope.

HP said in December it is “continuing to cooperate fully with all ongoing inquiries and investigations.”

Among the inquiries that may be ongoing, HP stated that since September 2006 it has received requests for information from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California, and the Federal Communications Commission regarding the leak investigation and, in the case of the congressional committee, securities transactions, as well.

Under a settlement with the California Attorney General in December 2006, in which HP paid $14.5 million, HP agreed to implement for five years a series of steps to ensure that its corporate investigations are compatible with state law.