The months of tabloid-hogging stories finally ended in a settlement that eventually veered away from the multi-million dollar sexual harassment suit filed by a former publicist against her former employer, high-end retailer David Jones Ltd and its resigned chief executive Mark McInnes.

For less than a million dollar, all the gripes appeared to have been officially settled on Monday and Kristy Fraser-Kirk is now $850,000 richer, who quickly clarified that her initial intent of donating portions of money won from the settlement would not be pushing through.

Ms Fraser-Kirk argued that no punitive damages were paid under the terms of the off-court agreement, which apparently focused only on repairing the personal damages incurred by the former David Jones employee in pursuing her case.

Mr McInnes said that the case's settlement was a welcome development for him as he admitted that he is shelling out some cash for Ms Fraser-Kirk, which should cover as additional compensation for damages done on the 27-year-old litigant.

The former David Jones chief executive said that part of the settlement required all parties to adhere on confidentiality clauses contained on deal's documents though he reiterated his earlier claims that "the vast majority of the allegations are simply untrue and the nature of the court proceedings was an abuse of legal process."

Mr McInnes said that following the closure of the case, which caught the attention of the nation, he is looking forward in the resumption of normalcy on his personal life and possibly re-invent his executive career by next year.

Releasing her own public statement, Ms Fraser-Kirk expressed relief that her difficult journey has come to an end as she added that fighting for the controversial case has resulted to real debates on sexual harassment, which she stressed was "part of what the punitive damages claim was intended to achieve."