Former ADP CEO Gary Butler was arrested on a criminal domestic violence charge a few days before the payroll processor with Connecticut operations announced his retirement earlier this month, The Associated Press reports, citing a dispatch in The Wall Street Journal.
Butler did not return a call from The AP seeking comment.
ADP said in an email that Butler told the board Nov. 8 he had decided to retire for personal reasons and resign from the board. The company said the board was aware of the “circumstances surrounding his decision.”
“Out of respect for his privacy, ADP is not commenting further,” the e-mail said.
The Roseland, N.J., company held its annual meeting Nov. 8, and Butler was re-elected by shareholders to a one-year term on the company’s board of directors. The next day, ADP said the 65-year-old executive had retired after 37 years with the company.
ADP named President and Chief Operating Officer Carlos A. Rodriguez to replace him under a succession plan that had been established by its board. Rodriguez, 47, joined the company in 1999 and was named president and chief operating officer in May.
The newspaper reported that Butler was arrested Nov. 6 in Beaufort County, S.C., where he owns a home. Butler joined the company in 1975 and became CEO in 2006.
ADP said late last month that new clients from both core growth and acquisitions pushed its fiscal first-quarter profit up 9 percent. ADP reported earnings of $302.7 million, or 61 cents per share, as revenue rose 13 percent to $2.52 billion.
ADP shares slipped 2 cents to $50.01 in morning trading Friday.
