Woman in HP scandal surprised that Hurd got fired

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.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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Re: Woman in HP scandal surprised that Hurd got fired
by Anonymous on Tuesday, August 10 2010 @ 3:52 CEST
What probably happened had little directly to do with the case. Probably in the course of investigating the case they went through Hurd's expense reports. Likely there were sizeable "exceptions to policy" in those reports which would then have been brought to the attention of Counsel and the Board, due to their connection with the legal investigation. The Board ultimately would have found Hurd guilty or not guilty of the lawsuit issues, but in the process of getting to that conclusion would probably have decided that Hurd misused his position to be reimbursed for unethical expenses or simply "against policy" expenses. So while the lawsuit was the catalyst for going through the old expenses with a careful eye, it was likely not the lawsuit that cost Hurd his job, but more the kinds of expenses that Hurd put through and some poor lowly soul just paid him not wanting to lose their job. Companies frequently, sometimes at the request of the executive involved, do not discuss any of the details of what they found.

Hurd is pretty much quickly looking to put this behind him and isn't crying "foul", so he seems to pretty much agree he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar and is just hoping it doesn't ruin his chances at a future job.