Former HP boss reaches amicable settlement

Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer Hurd has reached an amicable agreement with a former marketing contractor who accused him of sexual harassment, Jodie Fisher, according to media reports and Ms Fisher’s lawyer.

“I have resolved my claim with Mark privately, without litigation,” Ms Fisher said in a statement released by her lawyer.

“I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this. That was never my intention,” she added.

Mr Hurd resigned on Friday after Ms Fisher’s accusation of sexual harassment uncovered subterfuge with company expenses – HP officials said Mr Hurd, 53, had made “inaccurate expense reports,” designed to hide the relationship.

“Mark and I never had an affair or intimate sexual relationship. I first met Mark in 2007 when I interviewed for a contractor job at the company,” Ms Fisher said. “At HP, I was under contract to work at high-level customer and executive summit events held around the country and abroad. I prepared for those events, worked very hard and enjoyed working for HP,” she added.

“I wish Mark, his family and HP the best,” Ms Fisher ended the statement, refusing to comment on the case any further.

According to The Wall Street Journal online edition Ms Fisher and Mr Hurd had reached an agreement on Thursday, one day before Mr Hurd’s surprise resignation.

There were no details of the agreement. An investigation into Ms Fisher’s accusations by an outside counsel brought in by HP concluded that Mr Hurd had not broken the company’s harassment rules, but was in breach of “HP’s standards of business conduct” through his close relationship with Ms Fisher.