The rise and fall of mark Hurd as H-P chief

Mark Hurd got credit for building Hewlett-Packard into the world's largest technology company. H-P is the top seller of personal computers and printers. It had sales last year of almost one hundred fifteen billion dollars. Mr. Hurd became chief executive officer five years ago after H-P ousted Carly Fiorina. Later he also became chairman. Under his leadership H-P stock doubled in price.

So the news out of Palo Alto, California, last Friday came to many as a shock. Mark Hurd was out. Investigators said he had falsified expense records to hide spending on a woman who worked with H-P. Reports said the amount was about twenty thousand dollars. Mr. Hurd is married. He earned twenty-four million dollars last year. In June the former marketing contractor, Jodie Fisher, accused Mr. Hurd of sexual harassment. Through her lawyer, she said she was "surprised and saddened" that he lost his job. She said they had settled her claim privately. The sometime actress also said they never had an "intimate sexual relationship." H-P and private investigators found no violation of the sexual harassment policy at the company. But they did find that Mr. Hurd violated H-P's Standards of Business Conduct. These suggest that before employees make a decision, they should "consider how it would look in a news story."

Sexual harassment is one of the areas of job discrimination investigated by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The federal agency received almost thirteen thousand harassment claims last year. That was down from over fifteen thousand ten years ago. Men now make close to one-fifth of the complaints. The agency finds reasonable cause in about half of all sexual harassment claims.

H-P is paying Mark Hurd twelve million dollars plus millions more in stock options to leave. But his resignation was not the only exit from a job that was in the news this week. A flight attendant became an overnight folk hero on the Internet. Steven Slater apparently argued with a passenger over baggage in the overhead bin and got hit on the head. Once the flight landed in New York he deployed the emergency slide and left the plane. Soon there was a new expression: to "hit the slide," to leave a job in a memorable way. But Steven Slater is in a lot of legal trouble and details of exactly what happened on that JetBlue flight and how he acted are still up in the air.

 

15. Give your attitude to a person who unreasonably disturbs another person in his or her work because of race, color, creed, religion, national origin, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, or veteran status. Give you opinion on the relationships inside your team, as well as on the matter of equality in employment? Before unswerving translate the following memorandum of the company which will help you to give your point of view:

MEMORUNDUM

ON WORKPLACE HARASSEMENT

As a contractor for Company, you need to understand Company's expectations regarding the subject matter: Contractor's employees, agents, and Subcontractors are prohibited from engaging in any act of harassment toward Company's employees, suppliers, customers, or other contractor employees.

Company's Harassment POLICY in the Workplace Policy prohibits all forms of unlawful harassment based on race, color, sex, religion, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or veteran status. In addition, Company's policy prohibits all other forms of harassment, which, while not unlawful, are considered inappropriate in a business setting. Company will not tolerate harassment in the workplace, whether committed by or directed at employees, contractors, suppliers, or customers. Contractors who violate the policy are subject to removal from Company's work assignments. Examples of behaviors prohibited by Company's policy include:

· Racial or ethnic jokes, slurs, epithets, cartoons or graffiti

· Sexually graphic comments, epithets, pictures, cartoons, gestures or graffiti

· Taunting on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation

· Repeated use of demeaning or degrading comments based on individual characteristics

· Threats of harm, violence, or assault

· Unwanted sexual flirtations or unwelcome, unnecessary touching

· Requesting sexual favors in return for a tangible employment action

If you are the victim of harassment in the workplace or if you witness any incident of harassment, you should immediately report the incident to a supervisor or management representative of your employer. Company will collaborate with a management representative of your employer to investigate the reported policy violation and initiate action needed to appropriately address the complaint. Neither Company nor your employer will retaliate against anyone who reports an incident of harassment or who cooperates in any investigation of such incidents.

A copy of this letter has been provided to a management representative of your employer so that he/she is knowledgeable of the standard of conduct expected on Company's premises or while performing work for Company. You are encouraged to become familiar with the provisions of this letter and the complaint reporting procedures of both your employer and Company.

If you have any questions about this letter, please contact your employer, the Company representative for whom you perform work or a representative of the Company's Human Resources Department.

Answer the following employee’s questions from the position of top manager and give him or her advice on behalf of the company:

15.1. What should I do if I fell that I have been discriminated against at work?

15.2. Some people that I work with have distasteful posters and calendars posted in their work areas. What should I do?

15.3. May I specify in a job advertisement my preferences that this position will be filled by a young man or woman who has just received a college degree?

15.4. A co-worker sent me an e-mail message with a sexually offensive picture attached. What should I do?

15.5. I believe that a co-worker has accused me of sexual harassment and has called the Integrity Helpline. What will happen?

 

16. What does the term bullying mean? Let’s discuss the problem of bullying in different spheres of nowadays society (army, institute, at home etc.). Hope the following broadcast transcript will help you to understand the problem under discussion better: