It seems that her departure may not have been amicable. Fortune has reported that her departure may have been somewhat confrontational:
It seemed like the corporate equivalent of Clint Eastwood’s Million Dollar Baby: In a woman-to-woman confrontation that never could have happened in the male-dominated executive world of ten years ago, Hewlett-Packard
director Pattie Dunn, who in her day job is vice chairman of Barclays
Global Investors, knocked Carly Fiorina out of her post as CEO of HP
and took over as the nonexecutive chairman of the board.Or at
least that’s the way Hollywood might have told it. Indeed, Dunn was the
headliner in what happened. But behind the scenes—or maybe we should
say in the corners of the boxing ring—other powerful figures assisted
in this dramatic heave-ho. FORTUNE doesn’t know all the details. But
from many sources, we know enough to make it clear that Fiorina’s
leaving was consistent with her strong, controlling personality: She
didn’t go quietly.
What do you think?