HP Contractor Says She Never Intended For Hurd To Lose Job

Jodie Fisher, a 50-year-old actress with screen credits including “Intimate Obsession” and “Sheer Passion,” sometimes worked for HP at high-level customer and executive summit events where Hurd was present, according to a according to a statement released through Los Angeles attorney Gloria Allred.

She met Hurd in 2007 when she interviewed for the contractor position and she “never had an affair or intimate sexual relationship,” according to the statement through Allred, who has also represented O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson and Robert Blake.

But Fisher filed a sexual harassment claim against Hurd, a charge which found to be unsubstantiated by an HP investigation, and the resulting inquiry led directly to Hurd’s downfall. The investigation revealed that Hurd failed to disclose his relationship with Fisher, which constituted a conflict of interest, and also that he failed to maintain accurate expense reports and misused company assets, according to an e-mail from interim CEO Cathie Lesjak to employees on August 6.

Fisher did not explain the reason for filing the sexual harassment claim, but she has since settled the matter privately with Hurd, according to her statement. “I do not intend to comment on it further,” Fisher said in the statement. "I wish Mark, his family and HP the best." Fisher is a “single mom focused on raising her young son” Allred said in the statement. Fisher was featured in NBC’s “Age of Love” reality television show in 2007, in which a young man dated 13 women ranging from age 21 to 48.

Hurd’s resignation shocked the IT industry last Friday, causing HP’s stock fo fall almost 10 percent in after-hours trading. He’s not leaving empty-handed though. According to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Hurd will walk away with more than $12 million in severance.