Hewlett-Packard Co sued its former chief executive Mark Hurd to block him from joining rival Oracle Corp as a senior executive, alleging the hiring breaches his exit agreement and will lead to a transfer of technology giant’s trade secrets to a competitor.
The move comes a day after Oracle announced that Mr. Hurd will join the software major as President and member of the board.
According to the ‘Wall Street Journal’, HP filed a suit in the Superior Court of California in Santa Clara County on Tuesday, seeking an injunction against Mr. Hurd and unnamed others who helped him join Oracle, and asks for unspecified damages.
Mr. Hurd, it claims, “is violating and will continue to violate his legal obligations” as a result of his Oracle appointment, according to the complaint.
HP also asked the court to appoint a “special master” to regularly review Mr. Hurd’s compliance with his confidentiality agreement, the report noted.
The report quoted an HP spokesperson as saying, “Hurd agreed to and signed agreements designed to protect HP’s trade secrets and confidential information. HP intends to enforce those agreements.”