So farewell, Pattie Dunn. She is the ‘collateral damage’ in a scandal that is best summed up by the phrase “who leaked what to whom?”. The unsaid answer to that question may be Dunn, although evidence is thin on the ground. The boys have said that she's guilty.

Corpspeak from HP’s board explained the run-up to her departure: “We have never questioned her intentions, her integrity or her ethics.To move forward, we believe it is in the company’s best interest that she now step aside given the distraction her presence on our board continues to create.”

HP’s chief exec Mark Hurd, hired by Dunn chipped in: “She has contributed greatly to our company during a period of unprecedented growth and development. We intend to continue our investigation until we determine the root causes of the failure.  We will introduce process changes to correct the situation.”

For her part, Dunn said: “I have resigned today at the request of the board. The unauthorized disclosure of confidential information was a serious violation of our code of conduct. I followed the proper processes by seeking the assistance of HP security personnel. I did not select the people who conducted the investigation, which was undertaken after consultation with board members. I accepted the responsibility to identify the sources of those leaks, but I did not propose the specific methods of the investigation. I was a full subject of the investigation myself and my phone records were examined along with others.  Unfortunately, the people HP relied upon to conduct this type of investigation let me and the company down. I continue to have the best interests of HP at heart and thus I have accepted the board’s request to resign. I look forward to appearing before Congress next week to answer their questions and help the company put this unfortunate event behind it.”

Well, when you fall on your sword it always hurts. Especially when the boys are hanging around enjoying every minute of it and for you, as a woman, this is a seemingly inevitable outcome: pilloried either for being too weak (Shakespeare’s Ophelia) or too conniving (Shakespeare’s Lady Macbeth). Mark Hurd is now President, Chairman and Chief Exec of HP. But will he clean the drapes, too?
Jim Chalmers