Ruth's Hospitality Group announced the retirement of John F. McDonald, III as vice president-general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary from Ruth's Hospitality Group. McDonald, for the last 10 years, has worked for Ruth's Hospitality Group, most recently at Ruth's Chris. McDonald, will transition his role to Alice G. Givens who joins Ruth's Hospitality Group as vice president-general counsel, chief compliance officer, and corporate secretary.

Givens, who has nearly 20 years of corporate legal experience, most recently served for over eight years as vice president and associate general counsel at J. Crew Group Inc. Also, Rick Crossland, VP of Culinary Development will retire after five years in this role, effective 31 May 2016. Abdiel Aleman, currently senior director of Culinary Development for Ruth's Chris, will assume the title, role and responsibilities upon Crossland's departure. Aleman, who has over 21 years of experience with Ruth's Chris, has worked as a Regional and Executive Chef for various locations around the globe.

In addition, the company has appointed Susie Gorsline as chief people officer. Prior to joining Ruth's, Gorsline held a number of HR Leadership positions, including senior vice president of Human Resources, VP of Organizational Development and VP of Leadership Development at Au Bon Pain, UNO Restaurants and Metromedia Restaurant Group.