The Wall Street Journal
Mark Hurd, who on Friday resigned as chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co. over his relationship with a marketing contractor that violated the company's business standards, reached a settlement with the unidentified contractor on Thursday regarding her sexual-harassment claims, according to people familiar with the situation.
Terms of the settlement couldn't be learned. One of the people familiar with the situation said the resolution between Mr. Hurd and the contractor didn't involve H-P paying any money to the woman.
H-P said Friday that Mr. Hurd, 53 years old, didn't violate the company's policy regarding sexual-harassment but submitted inaccurate expense reports that were intended to conceal what the company said was a "close personal relationship" with the contractor. The amount of money in question wasn't disclosed. The woman was an outside marketing contractor for H-P between the fall of 2007 and the fall of 2009, H-P has said. Gloria Allred, an attorney for the contractor, has denied the woman had a sexual relationship with Mr. Hurd.
On Saturday, the day after Mr. Hurd's sudden resignation from Hewlett-Packard, a person familiar with his version of events disputed some of the claims of wrongdoing that have been made against the former chief executive.
This person called into question details of the meetings between Mr. Hurd and an H-P marketing contractor who later claimed the CEO had sexually harassed her. The sexual-harassment claim, which Mr. Hurd and the company learned of in late June, kicked off an investigation by H-P's board. The investigation cleared Mr. Hurd of harassment, but found that he misstated his expenses in violation the company's code of business conduct.
But on Saturday, the person familiar with Mr. Hurd's version of events said that both trips were scheduled for purposes other than meeting the contractor. In the case of the Los-Angeles meeting, Mr. Hurd was on his way home from San Diego and had a different meeting scheduled in the Los-Angeles area, this person said. The contractor was scheduled to meet one of Mr. Hurd's assistants, and the former CEO only attended because his original meeting was canceled, said this person.
On Friday, H-P announced Mr. Hurd had resigned at the behest of the board. H-P's share price fell more than 8% in after-hours trading after the announcement.
Cathie Lesjak, H-P's chief financial officer, was appointed interim CEO until a permanent replacement for Mr. Hurd is found. In an all-hands memo to H-P staffers on Friday, Ms. Lesjak urged employees to remain "focused" and said "Mark had failed to disclose a close personal relationship he had with the contractor that constituted a conflict of interest, failed to maintain accurate expense reports, and misused company assets."
Also on Friday, a person familiar with H-P's investigation said it found that Mr. Hurd had traveled to Los Angeles to interview the contractor in August 2007, and that he flew to Denver to conduct a second interview the next month. The person said that it was unusual for a CEO to do this.
The person familiar with Mr. Hurd's account said Mr. Hurd traveled to Denver to attend a company event, where he also interviewed the contractor.
The person familiar with Mr. Hurd's version of events also disputed the Palo Alto, Calif., computer maker's claim that the contractor received compensation when there wasn't a legitimate purpose. This person was only aware of one instance where the contractor was paid for an event that didn't take place. In that case, the event was canceled at the last minute because Mr. Hurd was ill and the contractor's agreement with H-P required 30 days cancellation notice, said this person.
Terms of the settlement couldn't be learned. One of the people familiar with the situation said the resolution between Mr. Hurd and the contractor didn't involve H-P paying any money to the woman.
H-P said Friday that Mr. Hurd, 53 years old, didn't violate the company's policy regarding sexual-harassment but submitted inaccurate expense reports that were intended to conceal what the company said was a "close personal relationship" with the contractor. The amount of money in question wasn't disclosed. The woman was an outside marketing contractor for H-P between the fall of 2007 and the fall of 2009, H-P has said. Gloria Allred, an attorney for the contractor, has denied the woman had a sexual relationship with Mr. Hurd.
On Saturday, the day after Mr. Hurd's sudden resignation from Hewlett-Packard, a person familiar with his version of events disputed some of the claims of wrongdoing that have been made against the former chief executive.
This person called into question details of the meetings between Mr. Hurd and an H-P marketing contractor who later claimed the CEO had sexually harassed her. The sexual-harassment claim, which Mr. Hurd and the company learned of in late June, kicked off an investigation by H-P's board. The investigation cleared Mr. Hurd of harassment, but found that he misstated his expenses in violation the company's code of business conduct.
But on Saturday, the person familiar with Mr. Hurd's version of events said that both trips were scheduled for purposes other than meeting the contractor. In the case of the Los-Angeles meeting, Mr. Hurd was on his way home from San Diego and had a different meeting scheduled in the Los-Angeles area, this person said. The contractor was scheduled to meet one of Mr. Hurd's assistants, and the former CEO only attended because his original meeting was canceled, said this person.
On Friday, H-P announced Mr. Hurd had resigned at the behest of the board. H-P's share price fell more than 8% in after-hours trading after the announcement.
Cathie Lesjak, H-P's chief financial officer, was appointed interim CEO until a permanent replacement for Mr. Hurd is found. In an all-hands memo to H-P staffers on Friday, Ms. Lesjak urged employees to remain "focused" and said "Mark had failed to disclose a close personal relationship he had with the contractor that constituted a conflict of interest, failed to maintain accurate expense reports, and misused company assets."
Also on Friday, a person familiar with H-P's investigation said it found that Mr. Hurd had traveled to Los Angeles to interview the contractor in August 2007, and that he flew to Denver to conduct a second interview the next month. The person said that it was unusual for a CEO to do this.
The person familiar with Mr. Hurd's account said Mr. Hurd traveled to Denver to attend a company event, where he also interviewed the contractor.
The person familiar with Mr. Hurd's version of events also disputed the Palo Alto, Calif., computer maker's claim that the contractor received compensation when there wasn't a legitimate purpose. This person was only aware of one instance where the contractor was paid for an event that didn't take place. In that case, the event was canceled at the last minute because Mr. Hurd was ill and the contractor's agreement with H-P required 30 days cancellation notice, said this person.
