HP's Hunsaker Papers

Former Hewlett-Packard compliance lawyer Kevin Hunsaker played a key role in the company's leak probe, according to newly released documents

by Lorraine Woellert

In late January, Kevin Hunsaker, a compliance lawyer at Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) picked up the phone to call his boss, Ann Baskins, with some bad news. There had been another leak of confidential corporate information to the press.

It was the weekend of Jan. 21, and Baskins, HP's general counsel, and other top-level executives were in Palm Springs, Calif., for an off-site meeting. The company had been subject to a string of leaks dating back to early 2005, when BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal got tips of the executive upheaval that eventually led to then-CEO Carly Fiorina's ouster. An investigation into those leaks was inconclusive. Now, Baskins and HP Chairwoman Patricia Dunn were outraged at news of the latest breach. After consulting with the board, Baskins gave Hunsaker the go-ahead to investigate.

He did so with a vengeance.

Dozens of pages of internal HP e-mails, memos, and other documents released by congressional investigators on Oct. 2 show that Hunsaker determined the scope of the investigation's direction and made pivotal decisions that later would come to light and put HP's reputation on the line (see BusinessWeek.com, 10/3/06, "Memo 1: 'That person is liable in some sense…," "Memo 2: 'I have serious reservations about what we are doing…," and "Memo 3: 'This is 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'…"). The probe ultimately led to Hunsaker's departure from the company and forced the resignation of Dunn and other high-ranking company officials, including Baskins. It sparked congressional, Justice Dept., and California state investigations. And it has given the corporation a black eye (see BusinessWeek.com, "Controlling the Damage at HP").

NO COMMENT.

How did a lawyer responsible for overseeing HP's business conduct find himself at the center of a company ethics scandal? Hunsaker appears to have been put in a difficult position, one that required steely corporate ethics mettle. The staff lawyer, part of a 100-person-plus legal team, was under direct orders from the tech giant’s chairwoman and chief counsel, who put him in the questionable position of playing corporate advocate rather than dispassionate compliance advisor.

Hunsaker also seems to have relied too heavily on the assurances of his own investigators that their methods were legally valid. And, if his e-mail exchanges with his investigative team are any indication, he quickly grew passionate about the cat-and-mouse challenge he had been assigned. He was determined to find the source of the leak.

Michael Pancer, Hunsaker's lawyer, said he had not examined the hundreds of pages of documents released by House investigators and could not comment in detail for this story. But he said impersonating a phone customer to get telephone numbers—the most controversial tactic used by HP investigators—had been initiated by Dunn back in 2005, when she first began investigating company leaks. "Kevin Hunsaker was not involved in that investigation. He had nothing to do with it," Pancer said.

POSITIVE FEEDBACK.

Pancer said Hunsaker was doing the job that had been assigned by his superiors, and at no time did he sanction or conduct any illegal activity. "A lawyer's ethical obligation to a client is to do anything legal to get the correct result. It's the client's job to say, among all the legal things you could do, there are some things I'd rather you not do," Pancer said.

Hunsaker never got that sort of direction, at least not from Dunn, Baskins, or anyone above him.