The founder of Lululemon Athletica Inc. (NASDAQ: LULU) is pulling the yoga mat from under the legs of his own boardroom.
Chip Wilson announced June 11 he has voted against the re-election of the Vancouver-based yoga wear company’s board chairman and one of its directors, citing concerns over the company’s direction.
Lululemon, which is in the midst of holding its annual shareholders meeting in Vancouver, has seen its stock prices plummet the past year as it dealt with the fallout of one crisis after another.
Complaints over the sheerness of yoga pants forced a major product recall earlier in 2013. The company was also criticized for not signing the Bangladesh Safety Accord after more than 1,000 workers were killed in a building collapse at a non-Lululemon factory in that country last spring.
Christine Day soon departed as Lululemon CEO and Wilson stepped down as chairman in December 2013 when he took flak for saying women with certain body types should not wear the company’s yoga pants.
Former Starbucks executive Michael Casey took over as chairman while Wilson, who owns 27% of Lululemon’s stock, remained as one of the board directors.
The ex-chairman has voted against the re-election of both Casey and board director RoAnn Costin, president of a Boston-based equity firm.
“While I am excited about the new management team that I helped put in place, I am concerned that the board is not aligned with the core values of product and innovation on which Lululemon was founded and on which the company thrived,” Wilson said in a statement.
“I have found a palpable imbalance in board representation, which is heavily weighted towards short-term results at the expense of product, culture and brand and longer-term corporate goals. I believe this is impacting the company's prospects.”
