More Details Emerge From Hurd-Fisher Harassment Claim

Jodie Fisher, a former HP contract worker who did marketing at events for the company, alleges that she lost work with HP after she refused to have sex with Hurd, according to a report from Reuters that cites an anonymous source.

A separate report from the Associated Press uses tamer language, saying that Fisher alleged that her work with the Palo Alto, Calif.-based company dried up after she "rebuffed Hurd's advances." The AP report also cites an unnamed source

Fisher had filed a sexual harassment claim with HP against Hurd. An HP investigation found that Hurd did not violate the company's sexual harassment policies, but the board of directors asked Hurd to step down after finding other evidence that he had violated the company's Standards of Business Conduct.

HP has not disclosed details of what was involved in the harassment suit. Two days after Hurd's departure, Gloria Allred, a lawyer for Fisher released a statement that indicated Fisher met Hurd in 2007 when she interviewed for the contractor position and that she "never had an affair or intimate sexual relationship" with him, according to the statement.

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Hurd went around the board to settle the harassment claim without the board's knowledge.

Almost immediately after stepping down, Hurd started receiving calls about possible jobs with private equity firms and publicly traded companies, a source close to the matter told Reuters. Hurd also is upset by how HP handled the matter and news leaks after he left the company, Reuters reported.