HP has come up with a new reason for why it let Mark Hurd go.

I forget how many this makes now but they keep getting better and better.

According to the Wall Street Journal the board supposedly got ticked off because Hurd settled with the woman in question the day before he was fired, short circuiting the board's investigation of her sexual harassment claims although the board said on August 6, the day Hurd went, that its investigation had absolved Hurd of violating HP's sexual harassment policies on July 22, a month after Hurd got a demand letter from her lawyer. They were supposed to hear from Ms. Fisher.

Anyway, Hurd had reportedly already decided to go and had negotiated a handsome exit package.

Friends of Mark brand the latest excuse "an utter lie" and retort that he was told to settle up with the wench especially by HP's general counsel; the settlement was purportedly already in place for weeks but for a signature and a five-figure personal check until the day before the news broke. It was supposedly cheaper than going to court.

They claim HP's real reason or reasons are going to come out in the shareholder litigation now pending against HP and Hurd for breach of fiduciary duties, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assts, misappropriation of information and unjust enrichment.

Meanwhile Ms. Fisher has let slip that her grudge was over her claim that work at HP dried up after she rebuffed Hurd's advances.

Hurd's side claims the marketing budget that paid her $1,000-$5,000 an event to steer the right CIOs to Hurd dried up. And that's not counting free dinners with Mark maybe 20 times afterwards. (Are they taxable?)

Naturally they contend he never got really out of line although Hurd reportedly admitted they visited each other's hotel rooms late at night.

Hurd supposedly decided to step down because the board was bound and determined to acknowledge the charges, something he thought should have been swept under the rug.

In his seclusion - Hurd's let it be know that he's in mourning for his loss of HP, but he's also let it be known that he's gotten any number of job offers from equity firms and public companies though he's not ready to take any of them.

According to Reuters Hurd was surprised to learn that his inaccurate expense accounts concealed a "close personal relationship" with Ms. Fisher. Supposedly he never heard the company's concealment angle before.