Letter Detailing Sexual Harassment Allegations Against Former HP CEO Released
Those of you who still remember the summer of 2010 may recall when then-CEO of HP Mark “That’s Not What I” Hurd resigned following vague mentions of an inappropriate relationship with a female contractor. Yesterday, a court ordered that a letter, detailing allegations of sexual harassment, sent in July 2010 from the contractor’s lawyer to Hurd, could be released to the public.
In the letter, penned by celebrity legal eagle Gloria Allred, it goes through the timeline of how Hurd apparently decided to contact the woman after seeing her on NBC reality show “Age of Love.”
According to the letter, Hurd told the woman he wanted to hire her to play hostess to a handful of HP events, but Allred accuses the executive of having ulterior motives:
Looking at what ensued over the next two years, it is clear that you had designs to make her your lover from the onset using your status and authority as CEO of HP and HP monies expecting her to be with you. It is appalling that you would use HP revenues for the purpose of procuring female companionship and romance under the guise of business.
The letter details the series of dinner meetings, which the woman claims felt more like dates than business chats, leading up to her being hired.
Eventually, she signed a contract to host six events for $30,000. After the first such event, the contractor claims Hurd invited her up to his hotel room to look at some documents pertaining to his upcoming meeting with the Chinese Vice-Premier.
Allred says her client reluctantly agreed to meet in his room, but that once there he allegedly put his hand on her breast and said, “So, you’ll stay the night, right?”
The woman says she did not stay but that this “was the beginning of an uncomfortable dance that went on for almost two years.”
The letter then goes on to detail claims that Hurd attempted to foster a romantic relationship over the next several months as both of them hopped around the world attending executive retreats and other events.
“She continually had to put you off, make excuses, scurry away or simply leave,” writes Allred. “Oftentimes you would be irritated and angry and on a few occasions you were so angry when she put you off, she expected to get fired.”
The contractor claims that Hurd offered her a contract worth $100,000 but “reneged realizing you would not be able to see her in the manner you wished.”
Things apparently came to a head in October 2009 in Boise, where Hurd allegedly kissed the contractor before she was able to, according to her lawyer, feign illness and head off to her own room.
“”She knew that if she did not have sex with you soon, her job was over, which is exactly what occurred,” writes Allred.
The folks at the Chicago Tribune have uploaded the entire letter HERE for your reading enjoyment.
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