(Reuters) – Tyson Foods has suspended its chief financial officer, John R. Tyson, after he was arrested for drunk driving, the company said on Thursday.
The American meatpacker announced that Curt Calaway, the company’s chief financial officer, will take over as interim CFO.
Shares of the Springdale, Arkansas-based company were down 1.5% at $53.89 in afternoon trading.
Tyson, great-grandson of company founder John W. Tyson, was arrested by University of Arkansas police and released nine hours later.
John R. Tyson, who took over as chief financial officer of the company in 2022, could not immediately be reached for comment.
The 34-year-old’s suspension comes at a time when the meat processor has warned that consumers are still under pressure from persistent inflation and that rising commodity prices could weigh on its future results.
Tyson was previously arrested for criminal trespass and public drunkenness in Fayetteville, Arkansas in November 2022.
A college-aged woman was alarmed to find Tyson, whom she did not know, asleep in her bed when she returned home, according to the 2022 Fayetteville police report.
The company called the matter a personnel matter at the time, but announced that a committee of members of its board of directors would oversee and review the matter.
Corporate governance experts also said at the time that Tyson Foods, the maker of Ball Park hot dogs, should hire an outside firm to conduct an investigation into the arrest.
John R. Tyson also apologized during a quarterly earnings call for the arrest.
(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru, additional reporting by Juveria Tabassum; editing by Shailesh Kuber)
