Damien Atkins, senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary with The Hershey Company, is resigning, effective January 31, 2021. The company explains that the move is due to family illness.
Atkins steps down from his general counsel and secretary role immediately and will spend the next several weeks focusing on the transition of his responsibilities. James Turoff, who was until this week vice president and deputy general counsel, will serve as acting general counsel as the company completes its internal and external search process for Atkins’ successor, according to the company.
Atkins joined Hershey in 2018 and has led the company’s legal, government relations, corporate security and corporate secretary teams.
‘Damien has been a true enterprise leader within Hershey, and he will be missed,’ Michele Buck, president and CEO, says in a statement. ‘In addition to his legal expertise, Damien has strengthened the partnership with our commercial operations and been a champion for talent development and inclusion in and outside of the company.’
Hershey, which is headquartered in Hershey, Pennsylvania, has more than 80 brands around the world including Hershey’s, Reese’s, Kit Kat, Jolly Rancher, Ice Breakers and Pirate’s Booty.
Turoff joined Hershey in March 2014 and has held a number of positions within the company’s legal department. From March to September 2019, he was vice president and deputy general counsel for governance, M&A and commercial matters, and between March 2018 and February 2019 he was vice president for SEC, corporate governance and compliance matters.
Before joining Hershey, Turoff was the assistant general counsel for corporate and securities matters at Harsco Corporation.
Ben Maiden
Ben Maiden is the editor-at-large of Governance Intelligence, an IR Media publication, having joined the company in December 2016. He is based in New York. Ben was previously managing editor of Compliance Reporter, covering regulatory and compliance...
