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Once it was announced, the board asked Keyworth to resign. At that point, Perkins also quit in a huff. But that was not all. He also launched a campaign in order to try and discredit Dunn, who he believed had betrayed his trust.
It seems that the charges brought against Dunn are largely the result of Perkins's disinformation and discrediting campaign against her. Perkins is an enormously wealthy, powerful individual, who not only sent out a mass e-mail attempting to discredit Dunn - an e-mail that was said to have influenced the media - but also went to law enforcement officials alongside his lawyers in order to convince them that she had orchestrated an investigation that included the use of pretexting as a method. In the words of Dunn, "If you have enough money and you're willing to spend enough, you can buy and sell somebody's reputation." Apparently, this is what Perkins did.
But is the situation really that cut and dry? Perkins was clearly enraged and took measures to have Dunn removed from the board, which is what he wanted to accomplish. But by taking the matter to law enforcement, he took the issue one step further.
While pretexting is obviously a violation of decent morality, since it was not clear whether or not Dunn was aware that it was being used - or, if she...
Perhaps this is why, in the end, charges against her were dropped. It may well be possible that Dunn believed that the investigators she hired would be aware of the legality of their actions, and as professionals, uphold the dignity of the investigation so as to steer clear of trouble.
I do believe it is fair, however, that Dunn was asked to resign from the company. That alone is punishment enough. As for the rest of the matter, it is clear that Perkins had a personal vendetta against Dunn and was abusing his power in order to make her suffer for removing his friend from the board. While pretexting may be temporarily harmful to those who fall victim to it, it is not as ruinous as the measures that Perkins took against Dunn. Ultimately, it was Tom Perkins who behaved in an unethical manner in the Dunn scandal.
Bibliography
CBS News. "Patricia Dunn: I Am Innocent." Palo Alto, CA, Oct. 8. 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007 at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/05/60minutes/main2069430.shtml.
Kirkpatrick, David. "The Peculiar Logic of Patricia Dunn." CNNmoney.com. September 15, 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007 at http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/FastForward_HP.fortune/index.htm.
Bibliography
CBS News. "Patricia Dunn: I Am Innocent." Palo Alto, CA, Oct. 8. 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007 at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/05/60minutes/main2069430.shtml.
Kirkpatrick, David. "The Peculiar Logic of Patricia Dunn." CNNmoney.com. September 15, 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2007 at http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/15/technology/FastForward_HP.fortune/index.htm.
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