Atlanta-based flooring giant Interface said it fired its chief executive officer after “an investigation concluded that he engaged in personal behavior that violated Company policy and core values.”
The publicly traded company did not disclose the specifics behind the allegations against the now-former executive, Jay Gould. He had served as the company’s CEO since 2017.
A company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Monday said Interface’s board of directors voted on Sunday to terminate Gould’s employment for cause, effectively immediately, for “violations of the company’s working environment policies.” It said Gould was not entitled to receive any severance tied to his termination.
Gould declined comment when reached by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.
Interface’s board appointed Dan Hendrix, the company’s chairman, to serve as president and CEO. Hendrix had been Interface’s chief executive from 2001 to 2017.
Interface’s stock price tumbled more than 7% in trading Tuesday. The company reported $1.18 billion in sales in 2018.
“Dan reassumes the leadership of this great company at a time of meaningful growth and strong financial performance, and the Board has every confidence that he is the best leader to continue executing our strategic plan,” said Chris Kennedy, Interface’s lead independent director.
Gould joined Interface as chief operating officer in 2015, after having been chief executive of kitchen and bath products company American Standard Brands. Before then he was an executive at Newell Rubbermaid, Campbell Soup Company and the Coca-Cola Company.
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