Papa John’s Founder John Schnatter Alleges Company Has Engaged in a ‘Pattern of Cover-Up’

In a lawsuit against Papa John’s former ad firm, Laundry Service, founder and former CEO John Schnatter alleged that the company damaged him and the company brand when they secretly taped a conference call, violating their contract.

Additionally, there are nearly 13,000 documents that Schnatter has requested from Papa John’s relating to the lawsuit, but the company refuses to turn them over to Schnatter. The company is seeking a guarantee by both parties of blanket confidentiality.

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Ex-FBI Director Clears Papa John’s Founder of Racial Bias, Slams ‘Clearly Inaccurate’ Media

In a detailed rebuke of the news media, former FBI Director Louis Freeh said his exhaustive investigation of Papa John’s founder John Schnatter found no evidence of racial animus, citing corporate transcripts that directly contradict news reports suggesting the pizza executive had criticized NFL players for kneeling during the national anthem.

“A thorough examination … found that the public comments by Mr. Schnatter were neither intended nor can reasonably be interpreted to reflect any racial bias, prejudice, or disrespect for African Americans or people of color,” Freeh wrote in a report slated to be made public Tuesday.

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Papa John’s Founder Suing Company, Accuses It Of Planning ‘Coup’

by Kyle Perisic   Papa John’s founder and former CEO John Schnatter is suing the company, seeking documents related to the person who outed him saying the N-word and accused the company of planning a “coup” against him. “Instead of standing behind the founder and working with news media to explain what actually occurred, the Company followed its usual, and flawed, manner of dealing with false and mistaken reporting as to comments made by Mr. Schnatter,” the lawsuit, filed in Delaware, said. Schnatter resigned on July 11 after he admitted to using the N-word during a press call in May, The Daily Caller News Foundation reported. “[E]ither the purportedly independent directors acted without adequate information … or [they] planned this coup in advance,” Schnatter said. Schnatter later said in a letter to the pizza chain’s board of directors that resigning was a “mistake,” The Wall Street Journal reported on July 17. “The board asked me to step down as chairman without apparently doing any investigation. I agreed, though today I believe it was a mistake to do so,” Schnatter wrote. Schnatter’s attorney, Patty Glaser, told CNBC in a statement that Papa John’s “is hiding documents that, we believe, will disclose the actual facts as to what…

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