EMC’s Donatelli Can Work at HP … But Not on Storage

Former EMC (NYSE: EMC) storage chief David Donatelli can begin work at HP (NYSE: HPQ) — he just can’t work on data storage technology just yet (see EMC Wins Round One in Donatelli Lawsuit and EMC Sues to Stop HP From Hiring Storage Exec).

The Suffolk County Superior Court of Massachusetts entered an order late last week that allows Donatelli to begin working at HP — but he can’t work on data storage issues for a year.

Both HP and EMC said they were pleased with the decision, which lifts a temporary ban on Donatelli reporting to work at HP, the result of lawsuits filed by Donatelli and EMC over a non-compete clause in his employment contract.

Donatelli will serve as executive vice president of Enterprise Servers and Networking at HP, while Dave Roberson, senior vice president and general manager of the StorageWorks division, will report directly to Ann Livermore, executive vice president of the Technology Solutions Group at HP, until the order is lifted.

EMC said in a statement, “We are pleased with the court’s ruling upholding the terms of EMC’s key employee agreement. The judge entered an order as proposed by EMC that precludes Mr. Donatelli from being engaged in any aspect of HP’s business that overlaps or competes with EMC’s storage business for a 12-month period.”

Jay Shepherd, the attorney for Donatelli in the Massachusetts case, said the ruling is only preliminary.

“All the ruling says is that David can start working at HP, and it limits what he can and cannot do there for the time being,” Shepherd wrote in an e-mail. “It remains a preliminary injunction, and both the Massachusetts and California cases are proceeding.”

As EMC’s top storage exec, Donatelli was responsible for most of the company’s revenues and the development of products like the new Symmetrix V-Max. HP OEMs its comparable high-end offerings to the Symmetrix from Hitachi.

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