Hurd hiring strains HP, Oracle ties

Cathie Lesjak also said Hurd needs to be “reminded’’ that he signed agreements to keep HP’s trade secrets and other confidential information secret. She said that’s why HP is suing to stop him from working at Oracle.

As evidence of the troubled relationship between the Silicon Valley heavyweights, Lesjak pointed to comments by Oracle chief executive Larry Ellison late Tuesday that HP’s lawsuit is “vindictive’’ and that HP’s board is “making it virtually impossible for Oracle and HP to continue to cooperate and work together.’’

“Mark signed a number of agreements to keep trade secrets and confidential information confidential,’’ Lesjak said at the annual Citi Technology Conference in New York.

“In terms of how that’s going to affect our relationship with Oracle, obviously with the press Ellison had yesterday, it strained it a bit, but at the end of the day business will prevail and we will go back to being good partners.’’

Oracle did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The ties between the two companies were fraying before Hurd’s hiring, as Oracle is muscling in on HP’s turf by starting to sell computing hardware. Oracle’s naming of Hurd as a co-president is a thumb in HP’s eye. Many legal specialists believe that HP’s case will be hard to win.

Hurd resigned from HP last month after five years as chief executive, in the aftermath of a sexual harassment investigation that turned up inaccurate expense reports connected to his accuser.