Former Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ) CEO Carly Fiorina, who was ousted from the company in the midst of a bizarre saga of corporate espionage is back. She has signed on a contributor to the new Fox Business Network, and also sat down with Fortune for an interesting interview, responding to questions submitted by the magazine's readers.

Interestingly Fiorina, who was arguably the victim of a trend away from the imperial CEO, seems to be standing up as an advocate of greater shareholder rights:

Do you think CEO compensation is out of whack? - Terry Irish, Hudson, Mass.

Sometimes. CEO compensation needs to be voted upon by shareholders in terms of the policies that will be used. There can't be any hidden surprises, like, Whoops, we forgot to tell you about a $200 million retirement package. What we ought not to do is regulate or legislate CEO compensation.

She's exactly right, and has a lot of other interesting things to say in the Fortune interview. While her reputation took quite a hit in the wake of her untimely departure from HP, she appears to be rebuilding herself quickly.

Carly Fiorina was one of my all-time feminist heroes, so when she was summarily dismissed by the board of Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HPQ), I was a bit miffed. And when the Patricia Dunn scandal began to unfold, I wanted to believe she was innocent. Or at least, well, sane.

When I discovered the mountain of evidence against Dunn, also implicating Fiorina, I felt a little bitter. But always in the back of my mind I have to wonder, how is it that two of the very few powerful women in technology were the biggest casualties of the pretexting scandal?

The Wall Street Journal [subscription required] suggests it may not be random: after all, statistics wouldn't favor two powerfully-placed women being let go in as many years. If it smells like a chauvinist, and walks like a chauvinist... you know the rest.

But it's, of course, not that easy. Alan Murray examines the two women's behavior in the days, and months, following their respective firings and finds them both wanting.