(Reuters) – Tyson Foods has suspended its chief financial officer John R. Tyson after he was arrested on drunken driving charges, the company said on Thursday.
The American meatpacker said Kurt Calaway, the company’s senior chief financial officer, will assume the role of interim chief financial officer.
Shares of the Springdale, Ark.-based company fell 1.5% to $53.89 in afternoon trading.
Tyson, the great-grandson of company founder John Tyson, was arrested by University of Arkansas police and released nine hours later.
John R. Tyson, who will take over as the company’s chief financial officer in 2022, could not be reached for comment.
The 34-year-old’s ban comes as the meat producer warns that consumers are still under pressure from persistent inflation and that higher raw material prices could weigh on its upcoming results.
Tyson was previously arrested for criminal trespassing and public consumption in Fayetteville, Arkansas in November 2022.
According to a 2022 Fayetteville police report, a college-aged woman was alarmed to find Tyson, whom she did not know, asleep in her bed upon returning home.
At the time, the company called it a personal matter but announced that a committee of its board of directors would monitor and review the matter.
Corporate governance experts also said at the time that Tyson Foods (NYSE:), maker of Ball (NYSE:) Park hot dogs, should hire an outside firm to conduct an investigation into the seizure.
John R. Tyson also apologized for the arrest during the quarterly earnings call.