Adrian M. Jones, who resigned from HP recently as a Senior Vice President of HP’s ESSN (Enterprise server, storage and networks) business unit in APJ and joined Oracle as Senior Vice President, Hardware Sales, Asia has been sued by HP for carrying companies’ confidential data along with him to the company arch rival.
According to the case filed by HP at California court, on February 11, 2011, just days before Jones resigned from HP, he utilized backup software to copy hundreds of files and thousands of e-mails from his HP computer to a portable USB storage, including files containing HP’s highly confidential, proprietary and trade secret information that Jones could utilise in his new position with a direct competitor.
When Jones resigned on February 16, 2011, on the next day he returned to HP, his employee badge, a computer security key, the company laptop, his company Blackberry, and his company credit card. Jones did not return the portable USB storage device that he used to copy hundred of files and thousands of e-mails.
HP has demanded the return of all documents and has called for damages to be awarded.
HP and Oracle became intense rivals after Oracle’s purchase of Sun Microsystems pushed it firmly into the server hardware market, in which it previously cooperated with HP. Relations soured last year when ousted HP Chief Executive Mark Hurd joined Oracle. Legal wrangling over Hurd’s hiring by Oracle are still unresolved.
Infosec India 