Allowing the lawsuit against Whitman and HP to proceed, U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer of the Northern District of California cited a May 2012 conference call with investors where Whitman referred to Autonomy Corp. as “a terrific product.” The CEO did not mention that an Autonomy insider had warned HP’s general counsel about the Cambridge, England-based company’s questionable accounting practices.
Whitman was not obligated to comment about the company, much less explain its performance, Breyer noted. But when she did, her explanations were incomplete, he said.
