Posted on Monday, August 09 2010 @ 16:22 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck
CNET
reports the woman that was allegedly the victim of sexual harassment by HP CEO Mark Hurd has been identified as
Jodie Fisher, an actress known for her work in a couple of soft erotic movies and a brief appearance in "Age of Love", a TV show about cougars. Fisher claims she did not have a sexual relationship with Hurd, and says she's surprised and saddened that Hurd lost his job over this.
"I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this. That was never my intention," Jodie Fisher, a former salesperson and actress, said in a statement released Sunday by Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred. Her statement confirms earlier reports that she had resolved her claim against Hurd and said the two of them did not have a sexual 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," 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."
CrunchGear
thinks it's a lot of ado about nothing, and suggests there might be another motive behind the Mark Hurd firing:
Something weird is going on over at HP. This whole Mark Hurd firing looks more like a coup timed with a nice, old-fashioned scandal than a case of “sexual harassment.”
...
Anyway, whatever is going on at HP suggests a massive move in the ranks of management, perhaps to better accomodate Palm executives. While HP has made some good money selling printers and, incidentally, computers, they could really use a home run in the mobile/portable space. Without old thinking – read Hurd – they may be able to punch on through to the other side.