Bed Bath & Beyond has named its Chief Accounting Officer, Laura Crossen, as interim chief financial officer following the death of Gustavo Arnal.
The retailer said in a regulatory filing that Crossen will continue as its principal accounting officer while serving in the interim role.
Arnal died on Friday after plunging from the “Jenga Tower” in Manhattan. The medical examiner’s office ruled the executive’s death a suicide.
Bed Bath & Beyond ousted its previous CEO Mark Tritton in June, as the company is being led by an interim CEO, board member and retail consultant Sue Gove.
Shares of Bed Bath & Beyond were down by about 15% Tuesday morning. Last week, the troubled retailer said it would close over 150 stores and lay off 20% of its workers, as same stores sales plunged 26% for the three-month period ended Aug. 27.
On Aug. 23, an investor filed a lawsuit against Arnal, activist investor Ryan Cohen, Bed Bath & Beyond and its bankers, accusing them of conspiring since March in a “pump and dump” scheme to boost the company’s stock price.
The company said in a filing in August that Arnal sold about 55,000 shares for $1.4 million in six separate transactions that still left him with more than 255,000 shares.
