markhurd handsup tbiThe HP board and sacked CEO Mark Hurd are still bitching at each other in the press, this time in the form of a long Wall Street Journal article that runs through another full round of he-says, they-say.

Here's what's new:

* The board did not get to see all the evidence about whether sexual harassment occurred, because Mark Hurd settled the lawsuit privately before the board could grill his love-interest, Jodie Fisher about it.  Thus, sexual harassment could have occurred, and many board members think it did. But without evidence, the board had no choice but to announce that Hurd did not appear to have violated HP's sexual harassment policy.

* Mark Hurd Googled Jodie Fisher's soft-core porn flicks and spent at least 10 minutes watching them.  (So maybe it was one of THOSE kind of non-sexual relationships)

* Hurd's sudden settlement with Fisher startled and angered the board and contributed to the board's decision to immediately can him.  Hurd disputes this, saying that, in fact, the board urged him to settle the case.

* The board unanimously voted to sack Hurd. THEN, to make him go quietly, they negotiated a huge severance package with him. 

This last point should enrage HP shareholders, who now have to foot the bill for a $35+ million severance payment for a CEO who was fired (for reasons that many of them still don't understand).

When a senior executive is fired for cause, as the board clearly thinks Mark Hurd was, he or she is not normally entitled to any severance.  The only reason to give such an employee severance is to avoid being sued for wrongful termination.  And although it is certainly better for HP to put this matter behind it, if the board really believed it had cause to fire Hurd, one would think they would have enough confidence in this conclusion to weather whatever lawsuit Hurd might throw at them.