1. What are the ethical issues in this case?
2. Who are the stakeholders impacted by this situation? How would you rank their claims?
3. Was the investigation into the recurring news leaks ethical? Why or why not? What actions would you recommend that a company in a similar situation take?
4. What should happen to the people involved in the situation? Should Ms. Dunn have been asked to resign? Should Mr. Hurd be able to remain and be given the role of board chairman?
5. Where do you draw the line between personal privacy and an organization’s right to know? If something unethical is happening, to what extents should an organization be able to go to determine who is at fault?

News leaks seemed to plague Hewlett-Packard. The first leaks surrounded the ouster of chairwoman and chief executive Carly Fiorina. In the midst of this internal turmoil, the Wall Street Journal published an article with details of closed-door board discussions about the planned management reorganization. An external legal counsel interviewed board members but did not succeed in identifying the leak. Evidence of more leaks appeared a year later as news organizations once again described the deliberations of closed board and senior management meetings in extensive detail. It was clear that someone from inside was leaking information. In addition to board members, reporters from such publications as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, and CNET became targets of the ensuing investigation into ten different leaks. The methods used to try to plug these news leaks led eventually to a board shake-up, which included the departure of nonexecutive chairwoman Patricia Dunn.