Kohl’s fires its CEO months after he started the job

Khol’s fired its new CEO, Ashley Buchanan.

Kohl’s fired its new CEO, Ashley Buchanan, less than four months after appointing him to the role.

The department store said Thursday that its board of directors terminated Buchanan after an outside counsel investigation found that he had given favorable deals to someone close to him.

A Securities and Exchange Commission filing submitted on Wednesday said Buchanan directed Kohl’s to “conduct business with a vendor founded by an individual with whom Mr. Buchanan has a personal relationship on highly unusual terms favorable to the vendor and that he also caused the Company to enter into a multimillion-dollar consulting agreement wherein the same individual was a part of the consulting team.”

Buchanan failed to disclose the personal relationship in both cases, which violated the company’s code of ethics, the SEC filing said.

“As a result of Mr. Buchanan’s termination, the Board has determined to withdraw his nomination for election as a director of the Company at the Company’s annual meeting of shareholders,” the company said.

Buchanan must also forfeit all equity awards he received from the company and reimburse the company $2.5 million, a portion of his signing incentive, the filing said.

The board is set to launch a search to find a permanent replacement for Buchanan. It named Michael J. Bender Kohl’s interim CEO.