Doug Ramsey has been suspended from his duties as chief operating officer of Beyond Meat, following an alleged violent incident that occurred on September 17 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Ramsey, who joined Beyond Meat in December 2021, was arrested and charged with terroristic threatening and third-degree battery after allegedly becoming angry and attacking another man as they were leaving a University of Arkansas football game. He was taken into custody that evening, but was released the following morning after posting a bond of $11,085.
Beyond Meat, on September 20, issued a two-sentence statement on the matter, which read: “"Doug Ramsey, Beyond Meat's Chief Operating Officer, has been suspended effective immediately. Operations activities will be overseen on an interim basis by Jonathan Nelson, Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations."
According to a CBS report, Ramsey apparently lost his temper after another man tried to edge his vehicle ahead of Ramsey’s in a parking garage outside of the University of Arkansas stadium in Fayetteville. The other man’s car apparently made contact with the wheel of Ramsey’s vehicle.
Authorities investigating the incident interviewed the two men and a witness, and it was determined that Ramsey had evidently got out of his vehicle and punched through the back windshield of the other person’s car. The driver of that car then got out of his vehicle, in which Ramsey apparently started punching the other man, and bit his nose.
The victim and the witness also told an investigating officer that Ramsey threatened to kill the other man.
At the time of Ramsey’s hiring, Beyond Meat founder and CEO Ethan Brown described him as someone who had a “proven track record of impressive operational excellence.”
Prior to joining Beyond Meat, Ramsey had a lengthy career with Tyson Foods, having worked his way up to being president of Tyson’s poultry operations. He was selected for that position in April 2017. Ramsey had previously served as a senior vice president in the poultry business unit, managing a portion of the business which included servicing key foodservice national accounts, retail fully cooked Tyson branded products and the school lunch program.
A graduate of Southern Arkansas University, Ramsey first joined Tyson in 1992.
