Labor & Employment

In addition to a John Fleming sighting in Minneapolis, Walmart alums John Menzer and Craig Herkert made news of their own this week.

Menzer resigned as CEO of Michaels following a stroke he suffered back in April, while Herkert was let go from his CEO role at Supervalu following a string of poor results.

DALLAS — A lawyer representing former Tuesday Morning CEO Kathleen Mason asserts the closeout retailer fire her upon learning she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Kathleen Mason, the former President and CEO of the Dallas-based, closeout retailer, has filed charges of disability discrimination against her former employer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
 

GLENDALE, Calif. — Paul Grimwood, CEO of Nestlé UK and Ireland, has been appointed to the role of chairman and CEO of Nestlé USA following the announcement by current chairman and CEO Brad Alford, who is to retire in October 2012.

Chelmsford, Mass. -- The Kronos Retail Labor Index edged down one-tenth to 4.2% in July, reflecting declines in both hires and applications. (The index is defined as the ratio of hires to applications within a given month, expressed as a percentage. A level of 3.0 means that for every 100 applications received, three hires occurred.)

Dallas -- Kathleen Mason, former president and CEO of Tuesday Morning Corp., has filed disability discrimination charges against the retailer, alleging she was removed after disclosing to the board that she was battling breast cancer.

"The board's attitude toward Kathleen changed after it learned of her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment,’ said attorney Roger Dunn, of Clouse Dunn Dunn LLP, Dallas, who is representing Mason, in a statement on Friday.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NewBrandAnalytics , a global leader in social market intelligence, has appointed two celebrated names in the world of business service software – Kristin Muhlner and Barton Phillips.
 
Muhlner was named CEO and was appointed to the company's board of directors to serve alongside investment giants, New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Revolution LLC. Muhlner brings to NewBrandAnalytics 20 years of expertise in building mission critical technology solutions used by Fortune 500 companies.
 

INDIANAPOLIS — Hhgregg's first quarter loss widened to $5.7 million, or 16 cents per diluted share, from a loss of $0.8 million, or 2 cents per diluted share, for the comparable prior year period, thanks to same-store sales decline of 5.1% and increased expenses.

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — OfficeMax reported net income of $10.7 million for the second quarter, besting Wall Street predictions and representing a strong turnaround from last year’s $3 million loss stemming from store closures and severance expenses.
 
Revenue for the quarter slipped 2.7% to $1.6 billion, missing analysts’ forecasted $1.64 billion in revenue. The office supply retailer said it will reinstate its quarterly common stock dividend, which it suspended more than three years ago.

CHICAGO — Claire's Stores announced that Jay Friedman, president of Claire's Stores North America, has resigned effective immediately. Claire's has commenced a search with the executive recruiting firm of Spencer Stuart to fill the open position.  Until a replacement is appointed, James Fielding, Claire's CEO, will assume Mr. Friedman's duties.

The addition of retired KPMG International chairman Timothy Flynn to the Walmart board gives the retailer some compliance expertise amid ongoing investigations into alleged violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.