LOWELL, Mass. — A hearing will be held on Thursday in Middlesex County Superior Court in Lowell concerning a restraining order filed by Market Basket against two former executives.
Market Basket alleges that Joseph Schmidt, the former Director of Operations, and Tom Gordon, a former Store Director, trespassed at various store locations 26 times over six days.
The company claims the trespassing was intended to intimidate employees and disrupt store operations, potentially leading to a work slowdown, employee walkout, and customer boycott.
According to court documents, both Schmidt and Gordon were fired last month following accusations of insubordination. Before their termination, they were explicitly instructed not to enter any Market Basket stores and have not been granted permission to do so since.
Schmidt and Gordon called their firings a “pre-planned coup” spearheaded by the Demoulas sisters, who are majority shareholders in Market Basket.
“I believe they are doing this at the behest of the three sisters, Francis, Glorianne, and Caren, of the Demoulas family. Those are Arthur T. Demoulas’ sisters,” Schmidt said. “They have hired the Board of Directors. They want their brother out of the company.”
The outcome of the hearing could have significant implications for both the company and the former executives, as Market Basket seeks to prevent further disruptions to its operations.
In a statement, Market Basket CEO Artie T. Demoulas called the restraining order filing “outrageous.”
“This is outrageous,” Demoulas said. “In a continuation of the board and Quinn Emmanuel’s scorched earth tactics, they sent this complaint to the media before Joe and Tom were even aware of it.”
“This gameplaying needs to stop – they are messing with the lives of real people. And they are lying, “ Demoulas said.
The Tewksbury-based grocery chain’s board placed Demoulas on paid administrative leave on May 28 over allegations that he had been considering leading a work stoppage.
The investigation into Demoulas “is nearly complete,” according to an update issued on behalf of the board in late July by law firm Quinn Emanuel, which has been reviewing the allegations of a planned disruption of Market Basket operations.
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