after a headline filled week norfol Southern has ousted CEO Allan Shaw effective immediately want to get to Morgan Brennan this morning with details on this story hey Morgan hi Carl well norick Southerns board terminating Alan Shaw for cause unanimously appointing Mark George the Company CFO since 2019 to the CEO role that is effective immediately this after preliminary findings from an ongoing investigation found Shaw violated company policies by engaging in a consensual relationship with Nori's Chief legal officer navanita nag who has also been like the decision coming just days after CNBC broke news of the investigation it ends a tough 2-year tenure for Shaw who took the helm amid intense labor negotiations with rail unions this is a tenure that spanned 2023 is toxic Ohio train derailment and cleanup efforts that's something I covered closely even sitting with sha in East Palestine that was an incident that resulted in a record $600 million settlement and residents uh with residents and triggered more scrutiny of safety regulations and then just earlier this year a contentious proxy fight with shareholder Anora which fought for Shaw's ouster and a majority of board seats that was a fight that resulted in we'll call it a partial Victory with three board seats turned over but Shaw keeping his job at that point so what's next Nori Southern reiterating fure guidance as it looks to improve service and margins board chair Claude mjo saying in the release that mark quote embodies our corporate values and is a champion of our safety culture in close partnership with our accomplished coo John or they will continue to improve NSS operating performance and close the margin Gap with peers now analysts expect to see minimal disruption to the railroads operations as for compensation with Shaw specifically fired for cause he will be forfeiting any severance package any outstanding stock awards and pending the outcome of that ongoing investigation clawbacks on compensation are not off the table so shares of norick Southern down fractionally guys and this is one that we will continue to watch especially because you're going to get those new CEO the first CEO the first comments from the new CEO at Morgan Stanley's lagona conference tomorrow where where do they stand with the activist pressure Morgan and the sort of new challenges facing this new CEO and I think that's a key question here and Kora not giving a comment on this but of course as I mentioned this proxy fight three of anora's picks for the board were successful in taking over those positions on the board and given the fact that this investigation has come to light certainly um with some of the reporting we've seen out there in the last couple days I will say from my own reporting uh it's very accurate I think the fact that they are involved with the board and they are a key shareholder in the company uh really speaks to how and why this came to light and how quickly all of this has happened but noric Southern's very very clear and they've been very clear they have Rewritten and and uh specified those rules in recent years about these types of relationships uh and that speaks to why Shaw was fired for cause I'd also note uh nag was not fired for cause so she will likely based on my reporting um you know be seeing some of those Severance and and and stock benefits uh as she leaves the company as well