One of Signet Jewelers Ltd.’s top executives, newly promoted Chief Operations Officer Bryan Morgan, has resigned “due to violations of company policy,” the national retailer said.
The Akron company did not offer additional details in a filing Monday with federal regulators other than to say the resignation was unrelated to financial matters. Morgan resigned on Friday, about four months after he was named COO, according to the brief filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Signet as of Tuesday has not said what its plans are to fill the now-open COO position.
Morgan, 40, was on a fast track at Signet, whose brands include Kay Jewelers, Jared and Zales. He joined Signet’s Sterling division in June 2007 as director of corporate supply chain, procurement, and strategic sourcing. The company noted in its latest proxy that Morgan subsequently held positions of increasing responsibility.
Morgan was promoted to chief operations officer in late January from executive vice president of supply chain management and repair. He reported directly to Chief Executive Officer Mark Light.
In announcing Morgan’s promotion and that of others at the company, Signet said then it was consolidating responsibility for information technology modernization, transformational initiatives and achieving operational efficiencies throughout Signet’s supply chain under the new COO.
“The ongoing modernization of Signet’s IT systems is critical to meeting increasing consumer demand and supporting an exceptional online shopping experience,” Light said in its January news release. “Bryan will be responsible for working closely with our chief information officer to deliver against our IT systems objectives.”
The company also said then that Morgan was to lead Signet’s transformational initiatives and operational efficiency objectives, along with current responsibilities “for the expansion and harmonization of Signet’s international distribution centers and logistics, implementing enhancements to customer repair procedures, and continuously improving the company’s strategic procurement processes.”
Signet in January filed SEC documents showing that Morgan’s base salary was bumped up from $450,000 to $625,000 when he was promoted to COO, effective Jan. 29. His maximum annual bonus was increased from 100 percent to 150 percent of his base salary. He was also eligible for other incentives and his stock ownership holding requirement was increased to three times his base salary.
Morgan, as a senior executive and at-will employee, also signed what is called a Termination Protection Agreement with Signet that spells out what kind of severance he may qualify for if he leaves the company, SEC documents showed.
Signet’s proxy, filed May 4, showed that Morgan’s predecessor as COO was paid a base salary of $710,646 in fiscal 2017, with total compensation of nearly $1.6 million.
Promotions
In 2014, the company named Morgan senior vice president of corporate supply chain management and facilities. In 2010, Morgan was promoted to vice president, procurement.
The Greater Akron Chamber in 2014 named Morgan one of its “30 For The Future” award winners for young professionals. The award goes to people ages 25 to 39.
Morgan was also a member of the 2010-11 Leadership Akron class.
Signet did not say in its filings what company policy violations led to Morgan’s resignation.
Stocks down
But Morgan’s departure comes during a time when the company has been hit with bad national publicity and its stock price has tumbled by nearly 43 percent this year.
The company in March put new policies and procedures in place following news story allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the company going back years that were made public in a class action gender discrimination case.
As part of the new policies and procedures, Signet formed a board committee focused on programs and policies to promote workplace respect. The committee appointed former U.S. District Court Judge Barbara S. Jones to serve as an independent consultant.
Harassment claims
The Washington Post in late February reported allegations of widespread sexual harassment at the company, citing newly public documents. Signet called the report “patently misleading” and said that none of the people in the class action lawsuit brought legal claims “for sexual harassment or sexual impropriety.”
The allegations grew out of the initial March 2008 gender discrimination arbitration case that evolved into a class action lawsuit.
EEOC deal
The company in early May reached an agreement with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that it said resolves all claims related to the pay and promotion of female retail sales employees at the company. There were “no findings of liability or wrongdoing” and Sterling does not have to pay a monetary award, the company said.
The EEOC settlement does not involve the other lawsuits involving Signet and subsidiary Sterling Jewelers.
Shares of Signet rose $1.08, or 2 percent, to $53.95 on Tuesday. Shares are down 42.7 percent since Jan. 1 and are down 38.8 percent from a year ago.
Jim Mackinnon can be reached at 330-996-3544 or jmackinnon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him @JimMackinnonABJ on Twitter or www.facebook.com/JimMackinnonABJ