HP sues to keep Hurd unemployed

Former Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd’s new job at rival Oracle Corp. has hit a legal snag just one day after his new position was announced, according to news agency reports today.

Oracle on Sept. 6 announced it had hired Hurd as co-president, replacing Charles Phillips, who has resigned.

HP filed its complaint today in a California state court.

In the lawsuit HP claims that Hurd wouldn’t be able to perform the job at Oracle without revealing HP’s trade secrets and violating a confidentiality agreement that Hurd had signed as part of a severance package from HP that could top $40 million, according to MSNBC.com.

The lawsuit mentions that Hurd was responsible for preparing HP's strategic plans and was privy to a "highly confidential" analysis of Oracle's competitiveness against HP.

Hewlett Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif., ranks No. 12 on Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors. Oracle Corp., of Redwood Shores, Calif., ranks No. 88 on the list.