An HP shareholder has filed a lawsuit against the company's board of directors in connection with last week's oust of CEO Mark Hurd, following investigation of a sexual-harassment complaint.

The plaintiff, Brockton Contributory Retirement System, is suing the board on behalf of HP ÔÇô an action called shareholder derivative suit ÔÇô alleging that the directors had violated their fiduciary duties in connection with Hurd's resignation, the Wall Street Journal reported.

In the legal complaint, filed in a California court on 10 August, the plaintiff asks that board members reimburse HP for damages caused to the company, including repayment of Hurd's severance package, estimated to be about $35m. The complaint also seeks for the board to pay punitive damages.

The plaintiff alleges that the board's failing to inform shareholders of the investigation into the harassment complaint constituted a violation of the company's corporate-governance guidelines.

While the investigation found no factual evidence that Hurd had sexually harassed former contractor Jodie Fisher, who had filed the harassment complaint, it did conclude that the former CEO had a "close personal relationship" with Fisher and had failed to disclose the relationship to the board.

Besides having failed to disclose a conflict of interest to the board, investigators also accused Hurd of having failed to :maintain accurate expense reports and misused company assets, according to a letter HP's new interim CEO Cathie Lesjak sent to the company's employees on 6 August.

Lesjak, also the company's CFO, will perform both roles until a permanent replacement for Hurd is found.