NORTH ANDOVER — Mediation is now on the table in the bitter dispute between the Market Basket Board of Directors and the family-owned company’s suspended CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, aka Artie T.
Harvey Wolkoff, of the law firm Quinn Emanuel, which is investigating an alleged planned work stoppage by the CEO, has announced that the probe is nearly complete.
The board has decided to not release its findings until mediation has been given a chance.
“However, out of deference to Mr. Demoulas, at this stage, the Board has decided not to release its findings until the Board and Mr. Demoulas have the opportunity to meet with a neutral mediator to determine if the long-standing issues between them can be resolved,” Wolkoff states.
The mediation’s results will determine whether the board will take any further action, Wolkoff states.
Justine Griffin, Arthur T. Demoulas’s spokesperson, could not immediately be reached for comment.
On May 28, the board suspended Arthur T. Demoulas, his children Telemachus and Madeline, and others including directors of groceries and operations Tom Gordon, originally from Methuen, and Joe Schmidt.
Earlier this week the board fired Schmidt and Gordon, Artie T’s longtime loyal executives, described as his right and left hand by Artie T.’s spokesperson.
The board fired them on Tuesday for insubordination.
Schmidt and Gordon said on Wednesday that their firings were part of a scripted dismantling of the company that threatens its culture of low prices, customer service and employee opportunity.
They have said the majority shareholders, the three Demoulas sisters, want more of the profits to flow to them.
Each of the three Demoulas family sisters, Frances, Glorianne, and Caren, owns a 20% share in the company, giving them a 60% majority ownership, compared to Arthur T. Demoulas’s 28% stake. The remainder is in a trust for family members.
The board has also suspended district supervisor Paul Quigley, a 44-year Market Basket employee from Haverhill, as well as Adam Deschene and Esteban Alvarez.
This a developing story. Check back later for more details at eagletribune.com, and for full coverage, see Monday’s edition of The Eagle-Tribine.