The Board of Directors of Market Basket said that he has placed CEO Arthur T. Demoulas on leave, citing allegations according to which he provided a work stoppage among the employees of the family -controlled supermarket chain. One of the Massachusetts -based grocery stores is seen here in 2014, when Demoulas thwarted an attempt to force him.
Steven Senne / AP
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tilting legend
Steven Senne / AP
A long-standing family quarrel is once again rotating the market of the market, an emblematic grocery chain of New England with at least 90 stores. The company’s board of directors has placed its CEO, Arthur T. Demoulas, on leave – a decision that comes a decade after an attempt to avoid Demoulas was partly thwarted by a strike by employees.
In the current controversy, the board of directors cited surveillance concerns and disputed succession plans by announcing its move against Demoulas.
If you are not familiar with stores, Market Basket is “everything in the Grand Boston”, as Wbur Member Station Reports: a cultural icon loved for high quality foods at reasonable prices. The roots of the supermarket chain extended until 1917, when the Greek immigrant Athanasios “Arthur” Demoulas Open a store in Lowell, mass. The company is also operating in New Hampshire and Maine. But as he grew up, family quarrels have persisted.
Two of the sons of Athanasios Demoulas transformed the market basket into a regional supermarket chain, while Curt Nickish of Wbur reported on NPR in 2014.
“Their sons have been fighting over for decades. An epic legal battle between the two in the 1990s presented a fight from the courtroom.”
What is the current dispute?
The executive committee of the board of directors of the market basket said in a press release that he put Demoulas and several employees on paid leave, “with effect immediately while an investigation is carried out in the conduct of the CEO”.
The board of directors alleged that Demoulas had planned a work stoppage to disrupt the company – an act they believe to be “incorrect reprisals” after the board of directors forced the CEO to cooperate with what they described as “the most basic surveillance of the company”.
The board of directors added: “Demoulas also resisted an appropriate succession plan for the market basket, claiming that it has the unilateral right to appoint its children to succeed it” without the contribution of the board of directors.
What does Demoulas say?
A representative of Arthur T. Demoulas did not immediately respond to requests for NPR comments. But in a declaration Quoted by Wbur And other local media, spokesperson Justine Griffin described the claim of the board of directors as an investigation “a wacky coverage for a hostile takeover”.
“Griffin said that the three sisters of Demoulas and their three members of the appointed board of directors were responsible for putting the CEO on leave,” said Wbur. She would also have declared that this decision against Demoulas comes at a time when the company prospered financially.
An Arthurian story of power struggles
Discord in the family controlling the Market market company made the headlines more than 10 years ago, when the cousin of Arthur T. Demoulas, Arthur S. Demoulas, led to develop it as CEO. The two are grandsons of the Athanasios founder “Arthur” Demoulas.
“An element of mistrust has existed between the two factions for years”, New Hampshire Union leader said New Hampshire public radio In 2013, while the quarrel between the two sides of the family began to spread out in a downright control for control.
In the summer of 2014, Arthur S. Demoulas managed to repel his cousin, the CEO of many employees called “ATD”. But the change sparked weeks of agitation and boycott by customers and employees loyal to Arthur T. Demoulas. Many of more than 25,000 Market Basket workers have left work – a breathtaking decision given that the company was not unionizedAnd the workers acted to help a CEO to go back to the management of what was a company of several billion dollars.
At the time, workers cited their relations with Arthur T. Demoulas, as well as a positive work environment and feared that the new executives could chop their bonuses.
“M. Demoulas, ATD, is the heart and soul of the market basket. All this about this place is built is him,” said store director Jamie Cunneen says Nickish in 2014.
After almost two months, Demoulas managed to find the CEO position. He and his siblings had offered a takeover more than $ 1.5 billion To take majority control of the faction company led by its cousin.
According to the message from the board of directors this week, Demoulas is itself a minority shareholder in the family business.
By announcing the status of Lege of the CEO, the Board of Directors declared that its actions would not affect the company’s ownership structure – or the wages and benefits of workers, including their intelligence plan.
