Three weeks after he was fired as CEO of Interface Inc., Jay Gould is firing back at the flooring giant with a $100 million wrongful termination lawsuit. And so, the latest corporate drama begins.
In a complaint filed Feb. 14 in federal court in Atlanta, Gould claims Interface (Nasdaq: TILE) breached his employment agreement; defamed, libeled and disparaged him publicly; and retaliated against him. And he levels incendiary claims against Interface Chairman Daniel Hendrix and Interface board member Christopher G. Kennedy.
Interface announced Jan. 20 that it had fired Gould "after an investigation concluded that he engaged in personal behavior that violated Company policy and core values." Hendrix was named CEO to take Gould's place.
Asked for comment about Gould's lawsuit, Interface spokeperson Christine M. Needles wrote in an email to Atlanta Business Chronicle that, "As we noted in our press release in January, Mr. Gould was terminated after an investigation by an outside law firm concluded that he engaged in personal behavior that violated Company policy and core values. Beyond that, we have no further comment on this pending litigation, on Mr. Gould, or any statements he or his representatives have made concerning his termination."
In his complaint, Gould says that on Nov. 5, 2019, he had a run in with one of Interface's directors, board member Christopher G. Kennedy, at a meeting in Chicago. Gould asserts that Kennedy threatened to fire Gould unless he made a number of operational changes at Interface, "including terminating a Human Resources executive that Director Kennedy did not personally like and using Director Kennedys self-selected recruiting firm to find her replacement."
"Director Kennedy further threatened that if Gould did not follow this outlandish directive, Mr. Gould would be fired, Director Kennedy would destroy Mr. Goulds name, and Director Kennedy would make sure Mr. Gould would never work for another public company," the complaint charges.
"Immediately," the complaint continues, "Mr. Gould reported the conversation to Board Chair Hendrix, highlighting the inappropriateness of Director Kennedys comments and the impossibility of achieving Director Kennedys demands in the suggested time frame. Mr. Gould told Board Chair Hendrix that he was committed to Interface, but could not be treated in this manner."
Interface held its 2020 Americas Sales Meeting in Los Angeles between Jan. 11 and Jan. 14 where the company's success in 2019 was celebrated, Gould's complaint says.
"Most members of Interfaces Global Leadership Team attended the Sales Meeting, including Board Chair Hendrix, Bruce Hausmann, David Foshee, Greg Minano, Natalie Poteran, and Pieter van de Torn. All members of the leadership team were consuming alcohol at the weekends events," the complaint asserts.
Gould's complaint acknowledges that during the weekend, "Mr. Gould held a meeting with the sales team in which wine and other mixed drinks were served. The team celebrated its great 2019 success. Allegedly during this sales team meeting, Mr. Gould was intoxicated and used the 'f word'. This was the pretextual reason for Goulds termination, after a flawed investigation by the same counsel the Board employed for an internal investigation relating to an SEC inquiry."
On January 16, Gould's complaint says, he "received a call from Director Kennedy in which Director Kennedy told Mr. Gould that Interfaces Board was investigating a complaint from the Sales Meeting. It is believed that Director Kennedy and Board Chair Hendrix orchestrated this complaint."
Just days after the sales meeting, Interface authorized an internal investigation into Goulds behavior, the complaint says. "This 'investigation' was instituted by Board Chair Hendrixs direction as a ruse to terminate Mr. Goulds employment as CEO. The investigation was requested with malice and intent to terminate Mr. Gould. The investigation was conducted by King & Spalding, LLP despite an obvious conflict between its representation of the Board and its investigation of a Board Member," Gould's complaint charges.
Gould says in his complaint that he was informed via email at 9:22 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2020, that his employment was terminated effective immediately.
Gould goes on in his complaint to make numerous incendiary charges against Hendrix involving alleged intoxication and "comments made about women." Read the entire complaint here.
Gould is asking the court to award him of $100 million for "mental anguish and punitive damages," along with in excess of $10 million in damages for stock options and other payments the company allegedly failed to make to him.led to make to him.
By David Allison – Editor, Atlanta Business Chronicle