Item 3. Legal Proceedings
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Refer to the description of the Broiler Antitrust Civil Litigation, the Broiler Chicken Grower Litigation, the Pork Antitrust Litigation, the Beef Antitrust Litigation and the Wage Rate Litigation under the heading “Commitments and Contingencies” in Part II, Item 8, Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements, Note 20: Commitments and Contingencies, which discussion is incorporated herein by reference.
O n June 19, 2005, the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Environment of the State of Oklahoma filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma against Tyson Foods, Inc., three subsidiaries and six other poultry integrators. The complaint, which was subsequently amended, asserts a number of state and federal causes of action including, but not limited to, counts under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and state-law public nuisance theories. Oklahoma alleges that the defendants and certain contract growers who were not joined in the lawsuit polluted the surface waters, groundwater and associated drinking water supplies of the Illinois River Watershed through the land application of poultry litter. Oklahoma’s claims were narrowed through various rulings issued before and during trial and its claims for natural resource damages were dismissed by the district court in a ruling issued on July 22, 2009, which was subsequently affirmed on appeal by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. A non-jury trial of the remaining claims including Oklahoma’s request for injunctive relief began on September 24, 2009. Closing arguments were held on February 11, 2010. On January 18, 2023, the district court entered Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law in favor of the State of Oklahoma and directed the parties to confer in an attempt to reach an agreement on appropriate remedies by March 17, 2023. On March 17, 2023, the parties received a 90-day extension from the district court and continued to confer on appropriate remedies. On June 12, 2023, the Court ordered the parties to mediation. The parties attended an in-person mediation on October 12, 2023, but were unable to reach a resolution. Defendants subsequently filed a post-trial motion to dismiss, which remains pending.
Other Matters
As of September 30, 2023, we had approximately 139,000 te am members and, at any time, have various employment practices matters outstanding. In the aggregate, these matters are important to the Company, and we devote considerable resources to managing employment issues. Additionally, we are subject to other lawsuits, investigations and claims (some of which involve substantial amounts) arising out of the conduct of our business. While the ultimate results of these matters cannot be determined, they are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
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INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Each of our executive officers serve one-year terms from the date of their election, or until their successors are appointed and qualified. Chairman of the Board of Directors John Tyson is the father of Chief Financial Officer John R. Tyson and nephew of Director Barbara A. Tyson. No other family relationships exist among these officers. The name, title, age (as of September 30, 2023) and calendar year of initial election to executive office of our executive officers are listed below:
Name Title Age Year Elected
Executive Officer
John H. Tyson Chairman of the Board of Directors 70 2011
Adam Deckinger General Counsel and Secretary 47 2023
Melanie Boulden Group President, Prepared Foods and Chief Growth Officer 51 2023
Donnie King President and Chief Executive Officer 61 2019
Wes Morris Group President, Poultry 58 2023
Jason Nichol Chief Customer Officer 51 2021
Johanna Söderström Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer 52 2020
Brady Stewart Group President, Beef, Pork and Chief Supply Chain Officer 44 2023
Phillip Thomas Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer 48 2020
Amy Tu President, International 56 2017
John R. Tyson Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer 33 2019
John H. Tyson has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors since 1998 and was previously Chief Executive Officer of the Company from 2000 until 2006. Mr. Tyson was initially employed by the Company in 1973.
Adam Deckinger was appointed as General Counsel and Secretary in January 2023 after serving as Senior Vice President and Head of Law and Compliance since November 2022. Prior to that role, Mr. Deckinger served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel since his initial employment with the Company in April 2018. Mr. Deckinger was employed by The Boeing Company prior to joining the Company.
Melanie Boulden was appointed Group President, Prepared Foods in September 2023 after serving as Chief Growth Officer since her initial employment with the Company in February 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Boulden was employed by The Coca-Cola Company from 2019 to 2022, Reebok International from 2018 to 2019, and Crayola and Kraft Foods prior to that.
Donnie King was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer in June 2021 after serving as Chief Operating Officer since February 2021 and Group President Poultry since September 2020. Mr. King served as Chief Administration Officer from February 2019 to September 2020 in addition to the role of Group President, International from January 2019 to February 2020. Mr. King previously served as President, North American Operations from 2015 to 2016 and President, North American Operations and Foodservice in 2014. Mr. King was initially employed by Valmac Industries in 1982. Valmac Industries was acquired by the Company in 1984. Mr. King was self-employed from 2016 to February 2019 before returning to the Company.
Wes Morris was appointed Group President, Poultry in January 2023 after serving as a consultant to the Company since October 2020. Mr. Morris was previously employed by the Company from 1999 until 2017, and has served in many leadership roles including President, Prepared Foods Operations. Mr. Morris was employed by Simmons Foods before his return to the Company.
Jason Nichol was appointed Chief Customer Officer in February 2021 after serving as Senior Vice President, Walmart since March 2016 and as Vice President, Walmart since his initial employment with the Company in April 2015. Mr. Nichol was employed by Nabisco, Cott Beverages and Scotts Miracle-Gro prior to joining the Company.
Johanna Söderström was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer in October 2021 after serving as Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer since her initial employment with the Company in July 2020. Ms. Söderström was employed by Dow Chemical Company prior to joining the Company.
Brady Stewart was appointed Group President, Beef, Pork and Chief Supply Chain Officer in August 2023 after serving as Group President, Fresh Meats since his initial employment with the Company in January 2023. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Stewart was employed by Smithfield Foods from 2017 to 2022 and the Kansas City Sausage Company prior to that.
Phillip Thomas was appointed Vice President, Controller and Chief Accounting Officer in July 2020 after serving as Vice President and Assistant Controller since March 2014, prior to which he served as Senior Director Financial Reporting since his initial employment with the Company in July 2008.
Amy Tu was appointed President, International in October 2022. Ms. Tu also held the role of Chief Administrative Officer from October 2022 to August 2023. Prior to that role, Ms. Tu served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer and Secretary from October 2021 to January 2023, as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary from November 2020 to October 2021 and as Executive Vice President and General Counsel since her initial employment with the Company in December 2017. Ms. Tu was employed by The Boeing Company prior to joining the Company.
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John R. Tyson was appointed Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer in October 2022 after serving as Executive Vice President, Strategy and Chief Sustainability Officer since October 2021, as Chief Sustainability Officer from September 2019 to October 2021, and as Director, Office of the Chief Executive Officer since his initial employment with the Company in May 2019. Mr. Tyson has been an observer at the Company’s board of directors’ meetings since 2014. He was employed by J.P. Morgan and as a private equity and venture capital investor prior to joining the Company.
PART II