Legislative, Regulatory & Legal

Harrisburg, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania AFL-CIO said Tuesday that workers, union leaders and shareholders will attend Rite Aid's annual shareholder meeting in Harrisburg, Pa., on June 21.

The group will hold a "Summit Meeting," attended by groups from California, Florida, Ohio, New Jersey, New York and West Virginia, and followed by a media briefing.

Rite Aid workers have attended four previous shareholder meetings. 
 

CARLISLE, Pa. — The Federal Trade Commission has approved Giant Food Stores' proposal to acquire 15 Genuardi's stores from Safeway.

The news follows Giant's Jan. 5 announcement that it would acquire the Genuardi's stores, all of which are located in the greater Philadelphia market. Giant also noted that under the terms of a consent order approved by the FTC, the Genuardi's located in Newtown, Pa., will be purchased by Newtown Market and will be operated as a McCaffrey's supermarket.

Even though no retailer has done more to enhance food safety in China than Walmart, the company found itself in the headlines again this week as regulators discovered products containing banned ingredients on the retailer’s shelves.

Media reports said Walmart removed products from shelves after a food safety official in Beijing discovered high levels of cadmium in squid and excessive benzopyrene in sesame oil. Walmart said it had received appropriate regulatory documents from suppliers prior to offering the products, according to reports.

CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Dollar Tree shareholders have re-elected a number of board members among other initiatives passed at the company's annual meeting.

Shareholders re-elected Arnold S. Barron, Macon F. Brock, Jr., Mary Anne Citrino, J. Douglas Perry, Thomas A. Saunders III, Thomas E. Whiddon, and Carl P. Zeithaml to serve on the board of directors. Each of these Directors received a majority of the votes cast at the meeting.

“A government agency run amok,” is how National Retail Federal president and CEO Matt Shay this week described the actions of the National Labor Relations Board regarding the issue of micro-unions.

New York -- Barnes & Noble Inc. founder and chairman Leonard Riggio agreed on Wednesday to forgo $29 million from a sale of one of his companies to the book retailer in order to settle a shareholder lawsuit, according to court documents, Reuters reported.

The lawsuit goes back to a 2009 agreement by the chain to buy back Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Inc. for $514 million from Riggio.

New York -- A Monday report by Reuters said that New York City's pension funds have filed a derivative lawsuit against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. based on reported allegations of bribery in Mexico and a possible cover-up by Wal-Mart officials.
 
The suit, filed in Delaware Chancery Court, alleges that Wal-Mart's officers and board of directors breached their fiduciary duty to both the company and shareholders by failing to properly handle claims of alleged bribery and apparently attempting to cover up details of the issue.

San Francisco -- A report by Reuters said that U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer on Friday said he was "seriously concerned" about whether the female plaintiffs suing Wal-Mart Stores have sufficient evidence to proceed with their re-filed gender discrimination lawsuit.