Fired Market Basket executives Tom Gordon (left) and Joe Schmidt (right). Photo: Chaiel Schaffel/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Market Basket leaders filed for a restraining order Monday against two fired executives who are loyal to suspended CEO Arthur T. Demoulas. Tom Gordon and Joe Schmidt are accused of traveling to more than 20 store locations to intimidate employees and instigate walkouts and boycotts.
A hearing is scheduling for 10 a.m. Thursday in Lowell Superior Court.
In a court filing, lawyers for Market Basket said that Schmidt and Gordon's alleged actions "have significantly disrupted" business operations. Lawyers also said they "falsely intimated" to Market Basket associates that would be rehired to their previous positions.
"They have likewise intimated that when that happens, associates that have cooperated with Market Basket management by doing their jobs will face retribution," the court filing said. "All this is part of a concerted, multi-pronged campaign to sow doubt, create uncertainty, and attempt to precipitate workplace slowdowns, a walkout, and a consumer boycott."
A spokesperson for Arthur T. Demoulas pushed back against the allegations. Read the statement in full:
"This is outrageous. 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.
Joe and Tom were fired after spending their entire careers at Market Basket. They found the hardest thing was not just the very public false accusations and continued attacks on their integrity, but it was that they were separated from their colleagues and friends whom they have known for decades. Once fired, they both decided to check in on their long-time colleagues, visiting stores and just trying to be a positive, reassuring figures in the turmoil. Last Thursday, Joe returned his company car to the office, as he was requested to do. While there, he went to visit briefly a couple of colleagues in the warehouse and office. They exchanged well wishes and he left without incident or doing anything inappropriate."