News

Schnatter wins access to all communication around his 'resignation' from Papa John's

January 16, 2019

John Schnatter, The Papa John of Papa John's Pizza, won a big decision Tuesday in a Delaware court when a judge ordered the current leadership of Papa John's International Inc. to give him access to all internal documents surrounding his July chairmanship resignation, according to Reuters. 

Schnatter, who still controls roughly 30 percent of Papa John's stock, wanted the internal documents in hope of proving that he was ousted improperly and that the company had been mismanaged. Schnatter resigned last July after widespread news that he had made a racial slur during media training months earlier. 

Delaware Court of Chancery Chancellor Andre Bouchard ordered the company's directors to give Schnatter all documents, communications and text messages on personal devices pertaining to Schnatter's resignation, including messages between directors and their lawyers.

Although the judge rejected the company's arguments that Schnatter was simply seeking the information for personal gain, Papa John's leadership released a statement applauding the ruling saying that it limited the scope of the documents to be turned over.

The court said there was a possibility that there were merit to Schnatter's argument that he was being forced out of the company before the racial slur news broke. The judge also questioned why Papa John's would drop Schnatter as its public face so quickly, raising the possibility of mismanagement and lack of oversight.

Schnatter also said he was pleased with the ruling since it supported his right to the information.