Papa John’s Moves to Prevent Hostile Takeover From Disgraced Founder | Eater

"Corporate leadership turmoil has intensified after the board adopted a limited-duration stockholder rights plan—commonly called a “poison pill”—to prevent the founder, who owns about 29% of shares, from increasing his stake. The board recently stripped him of his office at the Louisville headquarters and has suggested he resign from the board, with shareholders able to vote to remove him; his attorney called the board’s moves scapegoating. The crisis stems from a leaked incident in which the founder used a racial slur on a call with a public-relations agency (ironically during an exercise intended to avoid PR problems), which led him to resign as chairman and later express regret, and follows a Forbes exposé alleging a toxic culture that allowed harassment of female staff. These controversies build on an earlier exit as CEO after he blamed falling sales on NFL player protests, and have coincided with a continued drop in the company’s share price." - Tim Forster