SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The woman at the center of the sexual harassment claim that forced the resignation of Hewlett-Packard Co. CEO Mark Hurd revealed her identity Sunday and said she is “surprised and saddened” that Hurd lost his job.
The woman, Jodie Fisher, 50, knew Hurd through her job as a greeter and organizer for HP networking events for customers and executives from 2007 to 2009.
She has also worked as a saleswoman, an executive at a commercial real estate company, and as an actress. She appeared in some racy R-rated movies in her 30s and most recently was on a dating show called “Age of Love,” according to a statement from her lawyer, celebrity attorney Gloria Allred. She’s a single mother who is “focused on raising her young son,” Allred said.
Fisher repeated that she and Hurd never had a sexual relationship but neither she nor Allred would discuss details of the harassment claim made against Hurd.
That claim set off the chain of events that led to the discovery of allegedly falsified expense reports for dinners Hurd had with the woman and culminated in Hurd’s forced resignation Friday from the world’s largest technology company.
Fisher said her intention in filing the claim wasn’t for Hurd to lose his job. She acknowledged that she and Hurd have settled the matter privately. A person familiar with the case told The Associated Press that Hurd agreed to pay Fisher but would not reveal the size of the payment.
“I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this,” she said. “That was never my intention.”
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