Details of Mark Hurd accusations finally revealed

Former HP CEO alleged to have spent vendor's money on sexually harassing employee

Details of sexual harassment allegations made against Mark Hurd last year have finally been laid bare, with the former HP boss accused of spending the company's money on a failed two-year attempt to get an employee into bed.

Hurd (pictured), now employed as president of Oracle, is also alleged to have maintained romantic relationships with "various women in various places" on HP's dime.

The details of the allegations have emerged after a Delaware court ruled that a previously sealed letter from lawyer Gloria Allred could be published. Allred represented former adult actress and reality show contestant Jodie Fisher, whose allegations sparked Hurd's resignation as HP chief executive last summer.

In the eight-page missive Allred claims that Hurd hand-picked Fisher to serve HP as an event hostess after being "quite taken with her" on Age of Love, a TV show where contestants fought to win the heart of former tennis star Mark Philippoussis.

Prior to being appointed at HP, Allred alleges that Fisher was asked to have dinner and drinks with Hurd on two occasions. Fisher was concerned that the interviews "felt more like a date", her lawyer claims.

Following the first event attended by Fisher as an HP employee, Hurd invited his new charge back to his hotel room, under the guise of seeking her advice on an upcoming meeting with former Chinese vice premier Wu Yi, the letter alleges. After Fisher reluctantly acquiesced, Hurd spent an hour "painfully" trying to convince her to spend the night with him, claims Allred.

The letter goes on to detail allegations of numerous other such attempts to coax her into bed over her two years in HP's employ, with Hurd claimed to have expected "sex in exchange for work". Among the tech chief's ploys to curry favour with Fisher were overt displays of his seven-figure bank balance and boasts that the singer Sheryl Crow was one of many women to find him attractive, claims the letter.

"All [Hurd's] advances were unwelcome, awkward and were never reciprocated in any way," writes Allred, in a PDF of the letter published by Thomson Reuters. "She refused [his] quid pro quo attempts at sex and has now been discarded by [him] and HP."

Lawyers for Hurd, who is married with two children, have claimed Allred's letter is "filled with inaccuracies", according to BBC News. Fisher has also indicated the letter contains some inaccurate information.