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HP contractor 'surprised and saddened' by Hurd sacking
'Never my intention'
Mark Hurd's nemesis is a former soft porn actress and a reality TV wannabe and she is "surprised and saddened" by his enforced departure from HP. And she has privately settled her sexual harassment claim with him.
In a statement released on Sunday by her attorney, the celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred, Fisher said:
"I was surprised and saddened that Mark Hurd lost his job over this. That was never my intention.
"Mark and I never had an affair or intimate sexual relationship. I first met Mark in 2007 when I interviewed for a contractor job at the company.
"At HP, I was under contract to work at high-level customer and executive summit events held around the country and abroad. I prepared for those events, worked very hard and enjoyed working for HP. I have resolved my claim with Mark privately, without litigation, and I do not intend to comment on it further."
Multi-millionaire Hurd bit the bullet on Friday over $20,000 in improperly claimed expenses, said to have concealed meetings with former HP contractor Jodie Fisher. The transgressions were uncovered when she made a sexual harassment claim against the company. Former Reg hack Ashlee Vance has a good account of the relationship between Hurd and Fisher here.
Fisher, 50, appeared in R-rated TV programs in her 30s, and there is also an Australian tennis player angle. In 2007, she appeared on a an NBC show called Age of Love. in which she was one of 12 "bachelorettes" trying to grab the attention of Mark Philippoussis, the improbably tall, Melbourne-born former tennis star.
There is much more to Fisher's resume, but nothing near as racy. Over to Allred who has this to say in a note accompanying the statement she drafted for Fisher.
"My client is a single mom focused on raising her young son. She has a degree in Political Science from Texas Tech and was recently the vice president of a commercial real estate company. She formerly worked on the House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. She has also been a successful salesperson for a Fortune 500 company and has been in various television shows and films, some of which were R-rated when she was in her 30's. Most recently, Jodie was one of the stars in an NBC television show called "Age of Love."