by: Shane McGlaun
Malhotra leaked confidential IBM document to HP senior VPs
HP has had its share of legal issues and controversy with the most recent being the accusations of insider trading and of the inappropriate measures HP used to find which of its employees were leaking information to the press in 2006.
This week a former HP executive was indicted for leaking trade secrets gleaned from his former employer IBM to HP executives. Atul Malhotra was hired by HP’s printing division in May 2006 as a vice president. Malhotra previously worked for IBM from 1997 to 2006 in the IBM global printer sales division.
A few months before Malhotra was hired by HP, he requested a confidential document from IBM and was given access to the document that outlined IBM sales metrics. According to HP, Malhotra sent an email a few months after he started with HP to two senior vice presidents with a subject line saying “For Your Eyes Only”.
Inside the emails, Malhotra provided the internal IBM memo which is reported to have been marked IBM confidential on each page. HP Spokeswoman Emma McCulloch said in a statement, “The activity with which Malhotra is charged was in direct violation of clear HP policies, including HP’s standards of business conduct.”
Malhotra was terminated for forwarding the sensitive information. HP said it self-reported the activity to the appropriate legal agencies and cooperated fully with law enforcement investigations.
