Good morning. I’m Shirley Leung, a Globe business columnist, guest-writing Starting Point to explain what makes the latest Market Basket family feud different than the last one. (Ian Prasad Philbrick will be back tomorrow.)
But first, here’s what else is going on:
- Prosecutors charged a suspect with a hate crime and attempted murder for attacking people in Boulder, Colo., who were demonstrating for the release of Israeli hostages. The authorities said he planned to target a “Zionist group.”
- Federal immigration officials said they were targeting a Milford High School junior’s father when agents arrested the student over the weekend as ICE conducts a surge in detentions in Massachusetts.
- After President Trump’s defense secretary canceled a Harvard grant focused on biological threats, a Pentagon official begged her superiors to reverse the cut, saying it risked “grave and immediate harm to national security.”
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
Will this be another summer of protest for Market Basket employees and customers?
Don’t count on it, says Tom Kochan, the MIT Sloan School of Management professor who wrote a case study on the popular grocery chain’s 2014 standoff between its board and chief executive Arthur T. Demoulas.
Here are the CliffsNotes: Demoulas (Good Arthur) and his family championed low prices and generous employee benefits, clashing with cousin Arthur S. Demoulas (Bad Arthur) and a board focused on profits. Good Arthur was ousted, only to return triumphantly six weeks later after employees famously walked out and customers boycotted the stores in solidarity.
Now Good Arthur is once again on the outs with the board. But Kochan doesn’t see the same conditions for an uprising today.
“It would be hard to envision a mass protest because this does come across as a family feud over succession,” Kochan observed. “It’s too abstract. It’s too much an internal dispute that I don’t think would resonate as well with customers and with the public and with the average people in the workforce this time.”
Not only that, but pandemic-era inflation has driven up grocery prices and squeezed household budgets. Switching from the bargains at Market Basket to a pricier chain like Stop & Shop might be a tough sell these days.
The 2014 conflict ended when Good Arthur and his three sisters bought out Bad Arthur and his side of the family. But now Good Arthur appears to be fighting with his sisters over how to manage the popular grocery chain. Last week the board put Demoulas on paid leave, along with his son, T.A., and daughter, Madeline, who both work at Market Basket, while it investigates whether Demoulas is orchestrating a work stoppage to retaliate against the board.
“The issues of succession are not a matter of one family or another, but about responsible stewardship of a large successful company so that it’s around and remains the same great company for the next 100 years,” Jay Hachigian, chair of the Market Basket board, said in a statement. “Despite repeated requests over an extended period of time, the 70-year-old CEO has not allowed the Board to discuss succession planning or to even meet the children he wants to put in charge.”
Demoulas’s sisters — Frances, Glorianne, and Caren — have sway since together they own about 60 percent of the company, while he controls just 28 percent. The sisters also have children who work at the company.
It’s easy to see why succession is important: The chain, ranked No. 2 in the country by a marketing research firm, now has 90 stores and $7 billion in revenue.
Justine Griffin, a spokesperson for Arthur T. Demoulas, said he has not only discussed succession with the board “on many occasions,” but has also recommended that his son and daughter succeed him.
“The bottom line is — it is not that he has not offered a succession plan,“ Griffin said. ”It is that other shareholders do not like it.”
So how will the latest Demoulas drama end?
Kochan of MIT expects the warring factions to end up in court, which has become a family tradition. But that could take a toll on the company, both emotionally and financially, if lawsuits drag on indefinitely. He thinks the best solution is to bring in a mediator to resolve family differences.
“We need fewer lawyers here,” he added.
🧩 5 Down: Largest continent | 🌤️ 77° Summer arrives
POINTS OF INTEREST
Boston and Massachusetts
- ‘A celebration of freedom and love’: As an LGBTQ+ Pride flag flew above Boston City Hall, Mayor Michelle Wu marked the beginning of Pride Month.
- Karen Read retrial: The defense called a forensic pathologist who testified that the scratches on John O’Keefe’s arm appear to have come from a dog, rather than from Read’s SUV, just as she told jurors during Read’s first trial.
- Out of state: Pennsylvania’s US senators debated in Dorchester as part of a forum meant to foster bipartisanship. Democrat John Fetterman and Republican David McCormick clashed over Trump’s legislative agenda, but found common ground on Israel.
- Act fast: Everett’s mayor, already under fire for allegedly giving himself bonuses, hired an aide as a $550-an-hour city spokesperson two years ago after giving rival public relations firms just one day to bid for the job.
- Lost stories: Thousands of people who were institutionalized and abused in state-run schools, hospitals, and residential facilities are buried in nameless graves like the one in the photo above. A report urged Massachusetts to identify their remains.
- Payday: The attorney general fined sushi restaurant Zuma inside the Four Seasons Hotel for illegally requiring service workers to share pooled tips with managers. Some workers will get up to $50,000 in penalties and back pay.
New England
- R.I. defamation case: A former teacher sued an all-boys Catholic high school and the Diocese of Providence for allegedly failing to investigate a teacher for using a classroom computer to arrange sexual encounters. A jury will resume hearing the case today.
- Gun control: The Supreme Court rejected a legal challenge to Rhode Island’s ban on large-capacity magazines and Maryland’s ban on semiautomatic rifles. (SCOTUSblog)
- Look up: The Northern Lights will be visible across northern New England tonight, brought on by a strong geomagnetic space storm.
Trump administration
- Higher power: The administration asked the Supreme Court to let it lay off federal workers en masse. (SCOTUSblog)
- Storms brewing: FEMA director David Richardson said during a briefing that he didn’t know the US had a hurricane season, leaving staffers baffled. An administration spokesperson suggested Richardson was joking. (CBS)
- Motivation: Senator Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican, defended the Medicaid cuts in Trump’s tax bill by saying, “We all are going to die.” A Democrat says the remark spurred him to challenge her. (Sioux City Journal)
- Open arms: The US welcomed a second group of white South Africans under an administration refugee program that alleges racially motivated persecution. (AP)
- Off air: GBH is laying off 45 employees, 6 percent of its staff, citing federal funding cuts and other financial issues.
The Nation and the World
- Diddy trial: A woman who used to work as the music mogul’s personal assistant testified that she hadn’t accused him of sexual assault sooner because she was “terrified and brainwashed.” (NBC)
- No. 2 vs. No. 1: New York’s lieutenant governor will challenge Governor Kathy Hochul in next year’s Democratic primary. Their relationship frayed over Joe Biden’s reelection bid. (WRGB)
- Mount Etna: The volcano on the Italian island of Sicily erupted, sending tourists fleeing and plumes of ash into the sky. See photos of the eruption here.
BESIDE THE POINT
By Teresa Hanafin
🎵 Summer concerts: From The Weeknd to Morgan Wallen to The Who (they’re still around?), here are the 11 men or all-male bands playing at Gillette or Fenway this season. Oh wait: There’s one woman with the Lumineers. My bad.
🐛 WARNING: Do not read this story unless you are OK seeing a picture of a mite squirming on somebody’s skin. Every night, it and dozens of its friends crawl out of your pores and party. Here’s why that’s not a bad thing. (CNN)
💸 Miss Conduct archives: Back in 2015, T.Z. of Brookline didn’t tip more than the leftover change for coffee at Starbucks or for takeout. Cheap or reasonable?
🥗 Revisiting plastic wrap: Does it really work when it comes to keeping food safe? Yes. But it may not be safe to use in the microwave. (HuffPost)
🧑🍳 Cooking stories: Sheryl Julian likes cookbooks that reflect the writer and have personal appeal. Here are new books out this spring that are among her favorites.
🥘 Father’s Day menu: Give Dad a break from grilling with these recipes for asado pork chops, red curry chicken, and zucchini that you’ll have to grill instead while he glares over your shoulder.
🏈 Tribute: His former teammates heaped praise on Patriots center David Andrews in a special video played at his retirement press conference today.
🗑️ Eat inside, tourist: Visitors who marvel at the pristine streets of Japan are baffled by the lack of trash cans. Stop eating on the street, say residents. (CNN)
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This newsletter was edited and produced by Teresa Hanafin.
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