SEC investigating Hurd ' s ouster as HP ' s CEO
Hurd
Mark Hurd is facing more fallout from his ouster five months ago as CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.  the world's biggest personal computer and printer maker.
 The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the circumstances of Hurd's forced resignation in August  a surprising exit that triggered an immediate $9 billion drop in HP's market value and involved allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate sharing of inside information.
 Hurd's five-year reign at HP  which was hailed by Wall Street but reviled by many HP employees because of deep job and cost cuts  came to an abrupt end after a former HP marketing contractor  Jodie Fisher  accused him of sexual harassment.
 HP's board said it didn't find evidence to support the harassment claim  but did find inaccuracies in Hurd's expense reports for his outings with Fisher  who helped organize and host HP networking events that Hurd attended.
 The Journal  citing anonymous sources  reported that the SEC's investigation is looking at the expense reports  as well as another of Fisher's allegations -- that Hurd told her in advance about HP's $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems in 2008 -- and the possibility that Hurd destroyed computer evidence related to the case.
 Hurd has argued that he didn't prepare his own expense reports  and that the omission of Fisher's name from some reports wasn't intentional.
 Fisher later appeared to recant her claim that Hurd disclosed sensitive information  saying in a letter when she and Hurd settled their case that there were "many inaccuracies" in her original story. Fisher received an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.
she and Hurd settled their case that there were "many inaccuracies" in her original story. Fisher received an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.
 On Monday a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that the computer issue involved information the SEC requested concerning an HP computer that Hurd kept at home and had digitally cleaned before returning it to the company. This person said the cleaning was done to protect the privacy of Hurd's family  which used the computer for things such as photos and music. The person requested anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
 One aspect of Hurd's ouster that angered many critics was the size of his severance package.
 Hurd got a $12.2 million cash payout and  soon after his exit  exercised options on some $30 million worth of HP stock  and filed papers to sell the stock.
 His payday from HP would have been even higher had he not agreed to give back restricted stock worth about $14 million as part of a settlement with HP to allow him to work at Oracle Corp.  an HP rival run by Hurd's friend Larry Ellison.
 to work at Oracle Corp.  an HP rival run by Hurd's friend Larry Ellison.
 HP's market value  which stood at around $108 billion before Hurd's exit  dropped about $9 billion in the stocks' first day of trading after the Aug. 6 resignation. The stock fell further as the wait for a replacement dragged on.
 Hurd's replacement  Leo Apotheker  the former CEO of business software maker SAP AG  pleased many HP employees by rescinding pay cuts imposed under Hurd  and appears to have calmed investors' nerves by promising to focus on software and research to help close gaps with archrival IBM Corp.
[TGT] is facing more fallout from [TGT] ouster five months ago as CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co.  the world's biggest personal computer and printer maker.
 The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the circumstances of [TGT]'s forced resignation in August  a surprising exit that triggered an immediate $9 billion drop in HP's market value and involved allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate sharing of inside information.
 [TGT]'s five-year reign at HP  which was hailed by Wall Street but reviled by many HP employees because of deep job and cost cuts  came to an abrupt end after a former HP marketing contractor  Jodie Fisher  accused him of sexual harassment.
 HP's board said it didn't find evidence to support the harassment claim  but did find inaccuracies in [TGT]'s expense reports for [TGT] outings with Fisher  who helped organize and host HP networking events that [TGT] attended.
 The Journal  citing anonymous sources  reported that the SEC's investigation is looking at the expense reports  as well as another of Fisher's allegations -- that [TGT] told [TGT] in advance about HP's $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems in 2008 -- and the possibility that [TGT] destroyed computer evidence related to the case.
 [TGT] has argued that [TGT] didn't prepare [TGT] own expense reports  and that the omission of Fisher's name from some reports wasn't intentional.
 Fisher later appeared to recant [TGT] claim that [TGT] disclosed sensitive information  saying in a letter when [TGT] and [TGT] settled [TGT] case that there were "many inaccuracies" in [TGT] original story. Fisher received an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.
[TGT] settled [TGT] case that there were "many inaccuracies" in her original story. Fisher received an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.
 On Monday a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that the computer issue involved information the SEC requested concerning an HP computer that [TGT] kept at home and had digitally cleaned before returning it to the company. This person said the cleaning was done to protect the privacy of [TGT]'s family  which used the computer for things such as photos and music. The person requested anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly about the matter.
 One aspect of [TGT]'s ouster that angered many critics was the size of [TGT] severance package.
 [TGT] got a $12.2 million cash payout and  soon after [TGT] exit  exercised options on some $30 million worth of HP stock  and filed papers to sell the stock.
 [TGT] payday from HP would have been even higher had [TGT] not agreed to give back restricted stock worth about $14 million as part of a settlement with HP to allow [TGT] to work at Oracle Corp.  an HP rival run by [TGT]'s friend Larry Ellison.
 to work at Oracle Corp.  an HP rival run by [TGT]'s friend Larry Ellison.
 HP's market value  which stood at around $108 billion before [TGT]'s exit  dropped about $9 billion in the stocks' first day of trading after the Aug. 6 resignation. The stock fell further as the wait for a replacement dragged on.
 [TGT]'s replacement  Leo Apotheker  the former CEO of business software maker SAP AG  pleased many HP employees by rescinding pay cuts imposed under [TGT]and appears to have calmed investors' nerves by promising to focus on software and research to help close gaps with archrival IBM Corp.