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HP Sued over Carly Fiorina Exit Pay

A group of union pension funds is upping the ante against ousted Hewlett Packard (HP) CEO Carly Fiorina's USD 21 million-plus severance, a week before HP's March 15 annual meeting. It claims the severance package breached an HP policy that dictates that such packages should not exceed 2.99 times the sum of an executive’s annual base salary, plus target bonuses, "without seeking shareholder approval". The Times noted that when Fiorina was fired a year ago, she was paid about USD 14 million in severance, equivalent to 2.5 times her base salary and cash bonus. The group suing HP contends that HP violated its own severance policies, which would have capped Fiorina's severance payment at USD 16.74 million. The group claims Fiorina's benefits actually are worth USD 42.5 million.

The group of unions includes the Indiana Electrical Workers Pension Trust Fund, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Affiliates' Officers and Employees Pension Plan, SEIU National Industry Pension Fund, and Pension Plan for Employees of SEIU. Each has been vocal in the past few years about rising executive pay, the way directors are re-elected to boards and other governance issues.


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