<p>Darden Restaurants is in the news again. The company is <b>suing one of its former top executives Barry Moullet</b>, noting that the he <b>violated terms of a severance agreement</b>, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Darden filed the suit against Moullet this week in Orange Circuit Court.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><img class="small-cropped-image" src="https://cdn.andnowuknow.com/legacySmallCroppedImages/moulletbarry.jpg" alt="cropped_image_050814" />The allegations note that <b>Moullet was involved in recruiting an employee to Georgia-based Focus Brands</b>, which hired Moullet in November as Chief Supply Chain Officer. Liz Longstreet, the recruited employee, resigned from Darden in January and now works directly for Moullet, according to the suit.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Moullet was Darden's SVP of Supply Chain before leaving the company in 2012. In a separation agreement, <b>Moullet acknowledged he would not encourage anyone to leave Darden for two years</b> under the agreement’s terms.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">A severance agreement gave Moullet four and a half months pay, worth almost $130,000; medical coverage; and equity and stock option-based benefits. As a result of the agreement, "Moullet has or would obtain more than $1,000,000 dollars in equity, stock-option and other separation benefits," according to the lawsuit.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p>Will this former exec remain in hot water? Stay tuned as the lawsuit plays out.</p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><p><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://investor.darden.com/investors/investor-relations/default.aspx" target="_new">Darden </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
