Oracle chief Larry Ellison criticized Hewlett-Packard’s board for pressuring its CEO, Mark Hurd, 53, to resign after settling an undisclosed sex harassment claim from former H-P contractor and skin flick actress Jodie Fisher.

“The H-P board just made the worst personnel decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs many years ago,” Ellison wrote in an e-mail to the New York Times.

Separately, H-P shares tumbled 8 percent yesterday to $42.60 in the first day of trading since Hurd’s resignation Friday.