An assembly of reporters, together with members of their family, filed charges against Hewlett-Packard Co. and its two former executives. These journalists and their families have been subject to the technological giant's boardroom surveillance system. As part of the spying scheme, HP obtained their confidential telephone records in secret.
Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 09/05/2007 -- On Wednesday, five individual lawsuits were filed by the reporters and their families in the San Francisco Superior Court. The suit claimed of "illegal and reprehensible conduct" by the Hewlett-Packard Palo Alto Office, former Chairwoman Patricia Dunn and former chief in ethics, Kevin Husaker.
Three reporters of News.com, from the online media firm, CNET Networks Inc. namely Dawn Kawamoto, Stephen Shankland and Tom Krazit together with one The Assciated Press reporter and Shankland's wife, Rachel Konrad form the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Other plaintiffs were John Kawamoto, Kawamoto's husband, Thomas, and Rebecca Shankland, Shankland's parents.
Both of the said former HP executives were ousted from the company a year before. This is due to their separate involvement in HP's investigations regarding unauthorized leaks seeping out to the media.
The said investigations instigated by the top PC-seller in the world turned out to become a national scandal. It had developed coarsely so that congressional hearings and criminal investigations were undergone with regards to HP investigator's utilization of identification numbers issued by the Social Security Administration and other personal/confidential information just to deceive phone companies and compel them to hand over private call records.
The journalists and their family members' lawsuits charged the defendants with unfair business practices, deliberate infliction of emotional anguish and invasion of privacy. They are seeking for a trial with jury present. They have not determined the damages to be sought.
One of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, Kevin Boyle gave a statement to the media that they filed the lawsuits in order to ensure that circumstances such as those allegedly done by the HP and its executives never happen again.
According to a statement made by HP concerning the lawsuits, they have issued sincere apologies to the people who had been affected by the spying scheme. Along with the apology, they also offered a "substantial" offer for settlement.
However, they also issued a statement regarding the lawsuit, saying that they were disappointed of the reporters' actions and they will have to defend the company.
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