Termination of Former CEO

9 Months Ended

Feb. 28, 2022

Termination of Former CEO [Abstract]

Termination of Former CEO

9. Termination of Former CEO

The Company terminated Christopher Hughes, the former Chief Executive Officer of the Company (“Hughes”), effective February 29, 2020 for “Cause” as defined in Section 6(a) of his Amended and Restated Employment Agreement dated August 9, 2018 (the “Employment Agreement”). Despite having already been terminated from employment, on March 2, 2020, the Company received a letter from Mr. Hughes, providing notice of his intent to resign for “Good Reason” as defined in Section 7(c) of the Employment Agreement pursuant to which he claimed to be entitled to the “Enhanced Severance Amount” under the Employment Agreement. Hughes filed a complaint against the Company in the Supreme Court of the State of New York in March 2020 alleging two causes of action: (1) breach of his employment contract; and (2) breach of duty of good faith and fair dealing. Plaintiff Hughes alleged that he was terminated without cause or in the alternative that he resigned for good reason and therefore, pursuant to the Employment Agreement, Hughes sought severance pay in the amount of $1,000,000 and reasonable costs and attorney’s fees. The Company denied Plaintiff’s allegations in their entirety and filed counterclaims against Plaintiff for (1) declaratory relief; (2) breach of confidence/non-compete agreement; (3) declaratory and injunctive relief – confidence/non-compete; (4) tortious interference with current and prospective contractual and economic relations; (5) breach of fiduciary duty; (6) misappropriation of trade secrets; (7) declaratory and injunctive relief – unfair competition; and (8) conversion. 

In October 2021, the Company and Hughes agreed through mediation to settle this matter. In order to avoid lengthy and costly litigation and discovery expenses, the Company has paid Hughes $705,000 to settle all claims. After adjusting for insurance reimbursement, the Company accrued a charge of $580,000 to selling, general and administrative expenses in the quarter ended August 31, 2021 and nine months ended February 28, 2022.