June 2012 (Update) -- An invesotr eventually filed a lawsuit claiming they wasted company money by agreeing to such a large severance when they could have fired Hurd for cause and paid him nothing. This case has been dismissed by Judge Donald Parsons who also dismissed a claim accusing HP of poor succession planning.

2011 -- An investigation on behalf of current long term investors in shares of Hewlett-Packard Company (HPQ) concerning possible breaches of fiduciary duties related to potential excessive compensation that was awarded to certain senior officers and executives at Hewlett Packard Company was announced.

The investigation by a law firm focuses on whether the directors and officers of Hewlett Packard Company harmed the company by breaching their fiduciary duties to shareholders. In particular the investigation on behalf of current long term investors in Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ) focuses on possible shareholder claims that certain of Hewlett-Packards senior officers and executive were unjustly enriched through their receipt of unwarranted, excessive or unearned compensation in past years.

Hewlett-Packards CEO earned a total of roughly $23.863million in 2010 and its CFO earned a total of about $8.096million in 2010

However, Hewlett-Packards shareholders recently expressed their disdain for executive pay packages by voting no on Hewlett-Packard Company's say on pay provision. Hewlett-Packard received only 48 % support for its pay practices at its March annual meeting, according to a company filing.

The investigation concerns possible claims that the prior compensation awarded at Hewlett-Packard Company is improper based upon its current operating condition.

Even though Hewlett-Packards 12months Total Revenue inclined over the past four filing periods from $104.28billion to $126.03billion its Net Income only increased slightly.

Shares of Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE HPQ) traded recently at slightly above $35 per share. However NYSE HPQ fell from as high as over $48 per share as early as February and as high as $53.90 in April 2010.

The investigation seeks to determine whether certain senior officers and executives at Hewlett-Packard Company were awarded salaries, bonuses, stock options and other forms of long-term, incentive or retirement compensation that were excessive or unwarranted based on the Hewlett-Packards performance as compared to what senior officers and executives at comparable companies were making and/or results that were fraudulent, misleading or not long-lasting.

Finally the investigation focuses also on possible shareholder claims that would allow Hewlett-Packard stockholders to more efficiently influence or control future compensation decisions at Hewlett Packard Company.