Labor & Employment

HOUSTON -- Douglas Ewert will become CEO of Men’s Wearhouse effective at the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 15, when founder and current chairman and CEO George Zimmer steps down.

CAMP HILL, Pa. -- Rite Aid announced that Tony Montini has been promoted to EVP merchandising. In his new position, Montini will oversee field merchandising and the company’s new store format development in addition to his current responsibilities for category management. 

Montini most recently served as SVP category management. He will continue to report to Ken Martindale, Rite Aid COO.

Bentonville, Ark. -- Wal-Mart Stores reported in a filing on Monday that its CEO  Mike Duke received compensation valued at $18.7 million last year, less than a year earlier, as U.S. store sales dropped.

Duke received incentive pay, which is tied to Wal-Mart’s financial performance, of $3.85 million in the year ended Jan. 31, down from $4.8 million a year earlier.

His salary rose 2.4% to $1.23 million, based on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules. A year earlier, Duke’s compensation totaled $19.2 million.

Matthews, N.C. -- Family Dollar Stores announced Monday that it has named Brad Rogers to the position of VP real estate development.

Rogers will report to Keith Gehl, senior VP real estate and facilities.

Rogers began his career at Family Dollar in 1998 as real estate manager. Since joining the company, he has held additional roles in the real estate division, most recently serving as regional VP of the real estate portfolio and new stores.
 

Princeton, N.J. -- NAI Global said that Jay B. Olshonsky has joined the NAI Global New York City team as executive VP and COO.
 
Olshonsky previously was COO at NAI Friedland Realty, NAI Global’s Westchester County affiliate. He joined the NAI network in 2010 after 15 years with CB Richard Ellis, where he served as managing director in charge of its Washington, D.C., brokerage operations.

From where I sit, I’ve noticed a certain “buzz” of optimism in our industry -- frustrations and anxieties from a tough couple of years seem to be giving way to increasingly sunny retail sales forecasts. Is this sudden sense of optimism justified by cold, hard facts? Or, is this increasing sense of optimism somewhat irrational?

Houston -- Men's Wearhouse announced Monday that company president and COO Douglas S. Ewert will succeed founder George Zimmer as president and COO, effective June 15.

According to the retailer, the transition is part of a previously announced succession plan.

Ewert, 47, has been nominated by the board to be elected as a director of the company at the annual shareholder meeting and will be included in the list of nominees in the proxy statement for consideration by the shareholders.

The Equal Opportunity Employment Commission announced that Sam’s Club would pay a $440,000 fine to settle a harassment lawsuit involving Hispanics at a club in Fresno, Calif.

Dallas -- Zale Corp. announced Friday that it has been cleared by the Securities and Exchange Commission in its investigation and that the SEC will not take any action against the company.

The SEC began investigating the jeweler in October 2009 after it restated its 2008 and 2009 earnings. The company said at the time that a financial audit had uncovered internal control and accounting issues related to advertising costs, income taxes and internal company payments, among other things.

New York City -- Wal-Mart Stores has agreed to pay $440,000 to settle a federal harassment lawsuit by 10 employees who say they endured ethnic slurs and derogatory remarks on a daily basis while working at a Sam's Club store in Fresno, Calif. The EEOC announced the settlement Thursday.

Nine of the lawsuit plaintiffs were of Mexican descent and one was married to a Mexican. The alleged harasser was a Mexican-American co-worker.