Rodney McMullen, former chairman and CEO of Kroger, has stepped down from another position.
Just weeks after leaving Kroger, McMullen left his board position at apparel and footwear supplier VF Corporation, the company said in a March 26 regulatory filing.
“The offer of resignation was required by the Company’s Corporate Governance Principles due to a substantial change in Mr. McMullen’s principal occupation,” VF said in the filing.
VF elected McMullen as a director to the company’s board at the beginning of 2016, two years after he became CEO of Kroger. Following his departure last week, VF reduced the size of its board to 12 directors, the company said in the filing.
McMullen’s exit at VF follows his sudden resignation from Kroger in early March after an investigation found his personal conduct was “inconsistent” with the grocer’s ethics policy. McMullen joined Kroger in 1978 as a part-time stock clerk, and over his nearly five-decade career at the company, he worked his way up the corporate ladder and spent 11 years as CEO.
“Mr. McMullen’s conduct is not related to the Company’s financial performance, operations or reporting, and it did not involve any Kroger associates,” Kroger told the Securities and Exchange Commission when it disclosed his resignation.
Kroger appointed Ronald Sargent to serve as chairman of the board of directors and interim CEO.
The grocery company is looking at internal and external candidates to fill the CEO’s role, Sargent told investors in March during the grocer’s most recent earnings call.
