Former HP boss denies new claim
A FORMER Hewlett-Packard (HP) contractor once claimed Mark Hurd divulged details about HP’s plans to acquire Electronic Data Systems before the deal was announced in 2008, said a source familiar with the matter. A spokesman for Hurd denied the allegation.
Jodie Fisher, the contractor at the centre of the controversy that led to Hurd’s ousting as chief executive officer of HP on 6 August, made the allegation in the same June 24 letter in which she accused him of sexually harassing her, the source said.
But a spokesman for Hurd said on Friday there was “absolutely nothing” to Fisher’s allegation about EDS.
The allegation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the situation.
When it announced Hurd’s resignation, HP said it found no evidence of sexual harassment. HP accused Hurd of filing inaccurate expense reports to conceal a “close personal relationship”, although Hurd’s representatives have disputed that.
But Fisher’s 24 June letter has never been made public, and HP has never made any mention of the EDS allegation.
In that letter, Fisher claimed Hurd told her HP planned to buy EDS before the company announced the $13.9bn agreement in May of 2008, the source said.
A spokeswoman for HP declined to comment.
Gloria Allred, Fisher’s attorney, said she had no comment and said Fisher would also not comment.