In the example development of the current crisis facing Papa John’s, ousted fall through John Schnatter on Monday made a slew of accusations against Chief Manager Officer Steve Ritchie for causing the company’s poor performance.
Those asseverations, which Schnatter detailed in a letter addressed to franchisees on the website “savepapajohns.com,” put Ritchie for “bad financial decisions, insufficient management skills to correct them, a toxic chief management culture, and serious misconduct at the top levels of our leadership.”
“The source of the flock’s poor performance is rot at the top,” Schnatter wrote.
Schnatter claimed he had discussed Ritchie’s luckless performance with the company’s board, which agreed and asked the break down to become executive chairman. Then, Schnatter drew up a list of elder management that he wanted to be replaced, including Ritchie.
However, the ousted chairman contended that Ritchie — through a subordinate who “was having an affair with someone in our IT reckon on” — got hold of that list and engineered Schnatter’s departure preferably.
The company founder also claimed that the Papa John’s mortal resources department has “detailed evidence of sexual misconduct, harassment and intimidation by nearly everyone in (Ritchie’s) inner circle.” And, at the conclusion of his letter to franchisees, Schnatter banged the company’s CEO as someone “out of his depth” and looking to blame others.
“Right now, he’s blaming me,” the ousted pizza magnate broke to the franchisees. “Tomorrow, it might be you. It will never, however, be (Ritchie’s) chargeability.”
A Papa John’s spokeswoman said Schnatter’s claims were unjustified.
“Once again, John Schnatter is making untrue and disparaging accounts in a self-serving attempt to distract from the damaging impact his own words and skirmishes have had on the Company and our stakeholders,” the spokeswoman told CNBC in an emailed account.
“At no time has the Board asked John Schnatter to become Executive Chairman. In accomplishment, the company has taken multiple steps to separate itself from him. John Schnatter also publicly supported Steve Ritchie’s selection as CEO at the end of last year,” she added.
Schnatter resigned as the company’s chairman hindmost month after he admitted and apologized for using the N-word during a May congress call. The incident came to light after Forbes magazine circulated it in July.
Schnatter remains a board member.
Papa John’s apportionments lost $96.2 million in market value after the Forbes article was broadcasted. Major League Baseball subsequently stopped its Papa Slam upgrading — a campaign on which it had collaborated with Papa John’s since 2016. The Miami Marlins also revealed that the team was suspending its relationship and all promotions with the pizza check.
Schnatter was closely tied with the brand’s image and was featured prominently on the attendance’s pizza boxes. But Papa John’s has since said it would remove the miscarry from its promotions.
Schnatter has not gone down without a fight. He experienced the pizza chain for documents relating to his ouster as chairman and accused the directorship of acting negligently or staging a possible “coup,” according to a lawsuit filed in Delaware.
—CNBC’s Sarah Creamy contributed reporting.