The Inbox

The latest gold medalists in the race for our attention: 

• Not that Chick-fil-A needed more publicity, but Laura Hautala of the Los Angeles Times brought us the fascinating story of Adam Smith, chief financial officer of a Tuscon medical equipment manufacturer named Vante.  Smith went to the drive-thru of his local Chick-fil-A, told the employees that they worked for a hateful company, and then posted the confrontation on YouTube.  Shortly thereafter, Vante fired him.  In a press statement, Vante did not identify Smith’s ordering of free water as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

• The former CEO of Tuesday Morning Corp. (“First Quality. Legendary Savings.”), Kathleen Mason, has filed an EEOC claim alleging that she was fired after she told the board that she had breast cancer, reports Abigail Rubenstein of Law 360.  Rubenstein says that an activist shareholder had recently criticized Tuesday Morning’s performance, and that Mason was given an offer to stay on as a consultant.
• Christie Smythe of Bloomberg News writes that Clifford Jagodzinski, a former risk officer for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, has filed a lawsuit against the firm claiming that he was fired for reporting securities “flipping” by a wealth manager.  Jagodzinski says that he also uncovered financial advisers who didn’t disclose they were working from home, and another who was abusing drugs.  He seeks reinstatement and damages.
• According to Reuters, the state of North Carolina is not happy with the fact that Duke Energy took over Progress Energy and immediately ousted the Progress CEO, Bill Johnson, who was supposed to lead the combined businesses.  Steve Schaefer of Forbes writes that two Duke board members have since quit and that Johnson may have made $44 million for his one-day gig.  Coach K doesn’t even make that much.

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• Wrongful Termination