Kroger 2012 Annual Report Download - page 17

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15
IN D E P E N D E N C E
The฀Board฀of฀Directors฀has฀determined฀that฀all฀of฀the฀directors,฀with฀the฀exception฀of฀Messrs.฀Dillon฀
and฀McMullen,฀have฀no฀material฀relationships฀with฀Kroger฀and,฀therefore,฀are฀independent฀for฀purposes฀of฀
the฀ New฀ York฀ Stock฀ Exchange฀ listing฀ standards.฀ The฀ Board฀ made฀ its฀ determination฀ based฀ on฀ information฀
furnished by all members regarding their relationships with Kroger. After reviewing the information, the
Board฀determined฀that฀all฀of฀the฀non-employee฀directors฀were฀independent฀because฀(i)฀they฀all฀satisfied฀the฀
independence฀standards฀set฀forth฀in฀Rule฀10A-3฀of฀the฀Securities฀Exchange฀Act฀of฀1934,฀(ii)฀they฀all฀satisfied฀the฀
criteria฀for฀independence฀set฀forth฀in฀Rule฀303A.02฀of฀the฀New฀York฀Stock฀Exchange฀Listed฀Company฀Manual,฀
and฀(iii)฀other฀than฀business฀transactions฀between฀Kroger฀and฀entities฀with฀which฀the฀directors฀are฀affiliated,฀
the฀value฀of฀which฀falls฀below฀the฀thresholds฀identified฀by฀the฀New฀York฀Stock฀Exchange฀listing฀standards,฀
none had any material relationships with us except for those arising directly from their performance of
services as a director for Kroger.
LE A D D I R E C T O R
Kroger’s Lead Director serves in a variety of roles, including reviewing and approving all Board meeting
agendas, meeting materials and schedules to ensure that the appropriate topics are reviewed and that sufficient
time is allocated to each; serving as a liaison between the chairman of the Board, management, and the non-
management฀directors;฀presiding฀at฀the฀executive฀sessions฀of฀independent฀directors฀(held฀after฀each฀Board฀
meeting)฀and฀at฀all฀other฀meetings฀of฀the฀Board฀at฀which฀the฀chairman฀is฀not฀present;฀calling฀an฀executive฀
session of the independent directors at any time; and serving as the Board’s representative for any consultation
and direct communication, following a request, with major shareholders. Unless otherwise determined by the
Board,฀the฀chair฀of฀the฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀is฀designated฀as฀the฀Lead฀Director.
AU D I T C O M M I T T E E E X P E R T I S E
The฀ Board฀ of฀ Directors฀ has฀ determined฀ that฀ Susan฀ M.฀ Phillips฀ and฀ Ronald฀ L.฀ Sargent,฀ independent฀
directors who are members of the Audit Committee, are “audit committee financial experts” as defined by
applicable SEC regulations and that all members of the Audit Committee are “financially literate” as that term
is used in the NYSE listing standards.
CO D E O F E T H I C S
The Board of Directors has adopted The Kroger Co. Policy on Business Ethics, applicable to all officers,
employees and members of the Board of Directors, including Kroger’s principal executive, financial, and
accounting officers. The Policy฀ is฀ available฀ on฀ our฀ corporate฀ website฀ at฀ ir.kroger.com.฀ Shareholders฀ may฀
obtain a copy of the Policy฀by฀making฀a฀written฀request฀to฀Kroger’s฀Secretary฀at฀our฀executive฀offices.
CO M M U N I C A T I O N S W I T H T H E B O A R D
The Board has established two separate mechanisms for shareholders and interested parties to
communicate with the Board. Any shareholder or interested party who has concerns regarding accounting,
improper use of Kroger assets, or ethical improprieties may report these concerns via the toll-free hotline
(800-689-4609)฀ or฀ email฀ address฀ (helpline@kroger.com)฀ established฀ by฀ the฀ Board’s฀ Audit฀ Committee.฀ The฀
concerns are investigated by Kroger’s Vice President of Auditing and reported to the Audit Committee as
deemed appropriate by the Vice President of Auditing.
Shareholders or interested parties also may communicate with the Board in writing directed to Kroger’s
Secretary at our executive offices. The Secretary will consider the nature of the communication and determine
whether฀to฀forward฀the฀communication฀to฀the฀chair฀of฀the฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee.฀Communications฀
relating฀to฀personnel฀issues฀or฀our฀ordinary฀business฀operations,฀or฀seeking฀to฀do฀business฀with฀us,฀will฀be฀
forwarded to the business unit of Kroger that the Secretary deems appropriate. All other communications will
be฀forwarded฀to฀the฀chair฀of฀the฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀for฀further฀consideration.฀The฀chair฀of฀the฀
Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀will฀take฀such฀action฀as฀he฀or฀she฀deems฀appropriate,฀which฀may฀include฀
referral฀to฀the฀Corporate฀Governance฀Committee฀or฀the฀entire฀Board.