War of words erupts between figures in HP pretexting scandal

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March 1, 2007 (IDG News Service) -- The attorney for ousted Hewlett-Packard Co. chairman Patricia Dunn fired back yesterday at public comments made by board rival Thomas Perkins about the HP pretexting scandal last year.

"Mr. Perkins...has made the biggest mistake of his career. He is a bully, and he is bullying the wrong people," wrote James Brosnahan, attorney for Dunn, in a statement responding to what Brosnahan called a "gratuitous attack" on his client in a speech Perkins gave Tuesday in San Francisco.

In an appearance at the VentureOne Outlook Conference, a gathering of venture capitalists, Perkins said the HP dispute about how to control leaks of board deliberations to the media was really a fight for control of the board, which Dunn won, according to media reports of his speech.

Perkins also lamented that many corporate boards, including HP's, have turned from being "guidance" boards into "compliance" boards. Rather than advising the company on how to run its business as a "guidance" style director, "compliance" directors are increasingly focused on maintaining compliance with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission regulations governing publicly traded companies. He described Dunn as a compliance style director, according to the reports.

Dunn was indicted in October 2006 on four felony counts in California state court for authorizing an investigation into HP board member leaks to the media. Investigators hired by HP allegedly used false pretenses, or "pretexting," to get phone companies to divulge calling records for people they were investigating. A former legal counsel for HP and two private detectives hired by HP are also facing trial.

The scandal broke in September 2006 because Perkins demanded the company publicly state, in an SEC filing, why he quit the board four months earlier.

Because the state case is still awaiting trial, Dunn can't directly respond to Perkins' remarks. But her attorney had plenty to say.

"Mr. Perkins generated an attack on Patricia Dunn, hired lawyers, hired a public relations firm and all because his colleague on the Hewlett-Packard board [Jay Keyworth] was found to be leaking information. Now he is attempting to further prejudice the public against Patricia Dunn," Brosnahan wrote.

Perkins quit the board when Keyworth was outed as the director who leaked information to the media.

In his statement, Brosnahan said Perkins is likely to be called as a witness in Dunn's trial. He also accused Perkins of publicly criticizing Dunn to draw attention to Perkins' soon-to-be-published book, which is expected to touch on the pretexting scandal.

A call to Perkins' office was not immediately returned.

Reprinted with permission from

IDG.net
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.

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