DELAWARE (CN) - The Delaware Supreme Court released a letter detailing sexual harassment allegations against former HP chairman Mark Hurd, ruling that it does not violate his privacy rights.
     Mark Hurd, CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co. from 2006 to 2010, resigned from the company after Jodie Fisher, a former HP contractor, claimed he had sexually harassed her.
     Fisher's attorney Gloria Allred sent Hurd a letter detailing the allegations in June 2010. The CEO then gave the letter to the HP board and its counsel, which concluded that Hurd had a "close personal relationship with" Fisher, an event host and actress.
     While HP found that Hurd had not violated the company's sexual-harassment policy it concluded that he had breached its standards of business conduct. He resigned in August 2010, receiving severance, stock and options that totaled roughly $34.6 million.
     Hurd joined technology company Oracle soon after he leaving HP.
     An HP stockholder named Ernesto Espinoza asked HP to hand over the letter and other books and records to investigate corporate wrongdoing and waste.
     According to media reports, the letter details how Hurd tried to foster sexual relations with Fisher by using his expense account and paying her $30,000 to host HP events.
     The letter alleged that Hurd tried to persuade Fisher, a former Playboy model, to have sex with him, and kissed and touched her while she was employed as an HP contractor.
     The New York Times obtained a copy of the letter after the court's ruling.
     "It is clear you had designs to make her your lover from the onset using your status and authority as CEO of HP and HP monies," Allred wrote in her letter to the CEO.
     Hurd had tried to persuade the court that the letter, attached to Espinozas' complaint to inspect HP records and books, was confidential.
     But the Court of Chancery ruled that Hurd did not establish "good cause" to keep the letter under wraps.
     The five-justice panel of the Delaware Supreme Court agreed, finding that the letter did not contain trade secrets, nonpublic financial information or third-party confidential information.
     "First, although it was marked 'personal and confidential,' the Allred letter was sent to Hurd in his capacity as CEO of HP, at the company's address. Second, the letter stated that Fisher's claims were against Hurd and HP. Third, the substance of Fisher's claims was widely reported in virtually every media. Finally, although the letter goes into embarrassing detail about Hurd's behavior, it does not describe any intimate conversations or conduct," Judge Carolyn Berger stated.
     "In sum, we conclude that the Court of Chancery acted well within its discretion in holding that the Allred letter (as redacted) should be unsealed," the ruling states.