On Tuesday, two shareholders sued Hewlett-Packard, alleging that the company <A HREF="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=18874">violated its policy on executive compensation</A> when it doled out some $21.4 million for former chief executive Carleton S. Fiorina's severance package. Fiorina was forced to resign in February 2005, after the company accused her of failing to boost its stock following a merger with Compaq. The lawsuit says HP violated company policy when it paid Fiorina more than a shareholder-approved limit restricting severance to 2.99 times the executive's base pay, plus a bonus, The Times reports. The groups want Fiorina to repay the money she was given.