HP is to
pay $14.5m (£7.6m) to settle civil claims brought by the California
attorney general arising from the company’s boardroom spying
scandal.
HP said the payout
was not an admission of guilt. The out-of-court agreement commits
HP to pay a total of $14.5m and implement a series of measures to
ensure that its internal investigations are conducted in accordance
with California law.
The company had
been under investigation by the attorney general for allowing an
internal inquiry into boardroom media leaks to use external
investigators to access the phone records of directors, employees
and journalists without their permission.
"We are pleased to
settle this matter with the attorney general and are committed to
ensuring that HP regains its standing as a global leader in
corporate ethics and responsibility," said Mark Hurd, HP chairman
and chief executive officer.
There was no
finding of liability against HP as part of the settlement, which
includes an injunction and agreement that the California attorney
general will not pursue civil claims against HP or its current and
former directors, officers and employees.
Under the
agreement, $13.5m of HP's payment will be used to create a privacy
and piracy fund to assist California state prosecutors in
investigating and prosecuting consumer privacy and information
piracy violations.
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In addition,
$650,000 will be used to pay statutory damages and $350,000 will
reimburse the Attorney General's office for the costs of its
investigation.
HP is also
overhauling its internal investigation procedures to make sure it
doesn’t contravene state and federal laws in the future.
The HP civil
settlement with the state doesn’t let off the company’s former
chairman Patricia Dunn though.
Dunn, along with
others, currently faces criminal charges for her part in helping to
oversee the boardroom leaking investigation. All the accused have
pleaded not guilty to the charges.