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Four journalists and one of their family members are suing Hewlett-Packard for obtaining their personal phone records.
The
journalists filed lawsuits in California this week. They claim that HP
invaded their privacy. HP acknowledged in a U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission filing last year that it investigated journalists
in order to find out who, inside the company, had been leaking
information to the press.The actions of HP board members
and contractors led to congressional hearings about pretexting, the use
of deception to obtain confidential and detailed phone records. They
also led to the resignations of Board Chairperson Patricia Dunn and
lawyer and ethics chief Kevin Hunsaker.The State of California leveled
charges against five people, including Dunn and Hunsaker, but later
dropped them all. California also obtained a $14.5 million settlement
from HP in exchange for dropping an investigation of the company.The
journalists include Dawn Kawamoto, Thomas Krazit, and Stephen Shankland
with CNET’s News.com and Rachel Konrad with the Associated Press.
Shankland’s father also filed suit. They allege invasion of privacy,
intentional infliction of emotional distress and violation of
California fair business rules.The reporters’ own publications have
reported that HP representatives said they were disappointed the
reporters did not take a settlement and decided to sue instead. The
company said it plans to defend itself against the lawsuits. The legal
complaints use the defendants’ own words from a barrage of media
stories and government inquiries resulting from the SEC
disclosure.Specifically, the complaints quote Dunn stating during a
press interview that pretexting is “wrong,” then stating before
Congress that it was part of a “standard arsenal” of HP investigatory
practices. It also states that the federal government was “so alarmed”
by the disclosures that it began an expedited effort to enact
legislation that specifically outlaws what HP’s investigators had
done.During the media and congressional fallout, HP representatives
acknowledged that investigators acting on their behalf may have sent
tracer e-mail to the journalists and employed other tactics to put
their work and personal lives under surveillance. Documents released
during that period indicated that investigators attempted to watch
Kawamoto at her home and follow her on a Disney vacation with her
child.The plaintiffs’ lawyers announced the lawsuit Wednesday, a day
before HP was to announce its earnings. One of the journalists was not
involved with HP professionally but had her phone records examined by
the company’s investigators anyway. Rachel Konrad, who works for AP, is
married to Stephen Shankland who covered HP for CNET. Her phone records
and those of her father-in-law were allegedly examined as HP spied on
Stephen Shankland. All are seeking a jury trial and punitive
damages.HP’s stocks seemed largely unaffected throughout the public
debate and investigations relating to its practices.
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