Arthur T. Demoulas countersues Market Basket board, seeks reinstatement as CEO
Fired Market Basket CEO Arthur T. Demoulas is asking a Delaware court to give him his job back.
The nearly 100-page legal filing from Demoulas on Wednesday answers accusations made in a lawsuit by Market Basket's Board of Directors when the board announced his firing last month. He is not seeking monetary damages, but wants to be reinstated as president and CEO of the Tewksbury-based company.
"Greed and envy"
Large portions of Demoulas's filing portray his three sisters, who control 60% of the company, as "fueled by greed and envy." He alleges that the trio packed the board with hand-picked loyalists so they could "line their own pockets."
"The Sisters' focus on removing Mr. Demoulas and his family from the Company, increasing the prominence of their immediate families, and extracting cash from the Company is being implemented at Market Basket through the Director Defendants," the filing states.
Market Basket, which has 90 stores in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire and Maine, has been troubled by family infighting for decades despite its success. Demoulas was first fired from his position in 2014 by the board when it was controlled by his cousin, Arthur S. Demoulas.
After an unprecedented boycott by customers and many employees that summer led to empty supermarket shelves, "Artie T" and his three sisters bought the company from their cousin's side of the family for $1.6 billion.
The family feud resurfaced in the public eye when Demoulas and other executives were suspended in May and eventually fired for allegedly planning a work stoppage. The board also accused Demoulas of being a "dictator" who refused to give them key financial information or work on a succession plan.
Demoulas denied those allegations in his countersuit.
"The process that led to Mr. Demoulas's termination was riddled with conflicts, trickery, deceit, and pervasive breaches of fiduciary duties," Demoulas's lawsuit said.
Market Basket board responds
The Board of Directors responded to Demoulas's filing by saying that Market Basket "has performed well" since he was removed as CEO, and decried "personal attacks" against board members and the sisters.
"The accusations conjured against the Board and the majority stockholders in court papers and PR statements are outlandish and dramatic and they're not true," the board said in a statement. "The Directors are committed to preserving Market Basket's vitality, culture and service to customers and associates."
The board says a trial is scheduled in Delaware for mid-December.
