A lurid, accusatory letter that led to the demise of Mark Hurd as Hewlett-Packard's CEO in 2012 has been made public after the Delaware Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the infamous letter be released, despite Hurd's strong objections.
The court did not actually release the letter, but it was obtained by several news outlets.
The eight-page account, written in June 2010 by celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred (obviously) depicts in detail the story of Hurd repeatedly soliciting sex from Jodie Fisher, a greeter at Hewlett-Packard events and former reality TV star.
The letter claims that over the course of two years, Hurd pushed Fisher to meet him for dinner, give him hugs, sleep in his room and have sex with him, despite her continuous rejections.
Fisher said in a statement last year that the letter contained "many inaccuracies," and she noted that she believed Mark Hurd's behavior was not "detrimental to HP."
Nevertheless, the scandal eventually led to Hurd's ouster from HP.
Hurd privately settled Fisher's charges, which alleged sexual harassment. The company's board said its own investigation found no evidence of harassment, it noted that Hurd inappropriately used company funds to take Fisher to dinner at non-HP events.
According to the letter, events began to unfold in August 2007, when Hurd's manager Caprice Fimbres suggested that a reality star from the NBC show Age of Love be made Hewlett-Packard's host for several executive events.
Hurd, who is married, and is now president of Oracle, flew from Palo Alto to Santa Monica, Calif., to meet Jodie Fisher personally.
The two met again the follow month in what "felt more like a date," Fisher recalled, and she was hired in October to attend an event in Atlanta.
Following the event, the letter says Hurd and Fisher had dinner, and Hurd asked Fisher to come to his room to see some documents about Madame Wu Yi, the Chinese Vice-Premier, whom Hurd was to meet the next day.
Hurd fondled Fisher and asked her to stay the night, which she nixed. A "clearly miffed" Hurd said he was never rejected, demanding at least a hug.
Fisher and Hurd continued to meet for dinner and he kept wooing her, including by telling her about the various women he has slept with. He also noted that many women were "crazy about him," including singer Sheryl Crow.
Using status and wealth to woo Fisher, the letter accuses Hurd of bullying her.
Hurd often called Fisher in her room to talk about personal and business matters, including revealing that HP was about to purchase services giant EDS, which the company eventually did buy in May 2008 for nearly $14 billion.
If true, it's possible that Hurd illegally leaked insider information.
The letter accuses Hurd of instructing Fisher not to disclose anything "as it would be considered insider trading" if Fisher bought stock in EDS.
In one noteworthy advance that took place in July 2009, the letter says Hurd urged Fisher to "go away with him," and he offered her "anything she needed."
Mark Hurd told her that he believed he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but "would have to see how the chemistry in bed was."
Fisher declined the sex, the money and the trip.
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