Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Former Accenture CFO Pamela Craig has joined the Walmart board and will serve on the retailer’s audit committee involved in a two year old investigation related to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

Seattle – The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York has reportedly ruled that Starbucks baristas must share their tips with supervisors. According to the Associated Press, the ruling supports a lower court finding that baristas at Starbucks must share tips with shift supervisors, since the supervisors do much of the same work as the baristas.

Walmart’s reputation took a pounding this week when well-intentioned efforts by employees to help co-workers at several stores were distorted by media outlets and a high profile celebrity who lapped up organized labor’s interpretation of the situation.

The electronic currency known as bitcoin allows small- and medium-size companies to reach more customers by opening new markets that were previously unreachable, the co-founder of a company that allows businesses to use bitcoins said in testimony this week before two Senate subcommittees. And it appears that federal authorities are open to its development.

New York -- Eminence Capital which owns 9.8% of the common stock of The Men's Wearhouse and is its single largest shareholder, on Wednesday released a presentation describing why Men’s Wearhouse board of directors should engage in merger discussions with Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. Eminence Capital also said that it has retained Moelis & Company as a strategic advisor.

Cincinnati -- The Kroger Co. announced its succession plan for secretary and general counsel.

Paul W. Heldman, 62, a 31-year Kroger veteran who has been serving as the company's general counsel since 1989, secretary since 1992, and executive VP since 2006, will retire in the spring of 2014.

Bentonville, Ark. -- The National Labor Relations Board has reportedly determined that Wal-Mart acted illegally when it disciplined and fired employees who had been involved in strikes and other labor protest activities. According to the New York Times, the board investigated actions taken last year against about 100 Wal-Mart employees in stores across 12 states including California, Colorado, Texas and Massachusetts.

New York -- Embattled Southern celebrity chef Paula Deen is opening a headquarters and store in Clarence, N.Y., a suburb of Buffalo, this February. The shop, Paula Deen Foods, will include a showroom designed to resemble Deen's home kitchen and offer products from her branded line of goods.