Darden Restaurants is in the news again. The company is suing one of its former top executives Barry Moullet, noting that the he violated terms of a severance agreement, according to the Orlando Sentinel. Darden filed the suit against Moullet this week in Orange Circuit Court.
The allegations note that Moullet was involved in recruiting an employee to Georgia-based Focus Brands, 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.
Moullet was Darden's SVP of Supply Chain before leaving the company in 2012. In a separation agreement, Moullet acknowledged he would not encourage anyone to leave Darden for two years under the agreement’s terms.
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.
Will this former exec remain in hot water? Stay tuned as the lawsuit plays out.
