Former senior vice-president of human resources, Elaine Roper, and former senior vice-president of community and cultural affairs, Louise Lutgens, were fired back in March by Toronto 2015 in what was then described as a "streamlining" of the Organising Committee.

Organisers have since revealed that Roper will receive CAD$301,451 (£168,000/$270,600/€214,763), while Lutgens will be paid $271,180.91 (£151,131/$243,272/€192,411) in compensation.

As salary, Roper received CAD$292,774 (£162,990/$262,816/€207,731) in 2012 and Lutgens netted CAD$232,845 (£129,661/$208,882/€196,209) in the same year.

Additional costs including legal fees, outplacement payments, deferred retirement benefits, and medical and health benefits bring the total cost of the settlement to CAD$637,229.36 (£354,752/$572,026/€452,131).

The settlements, approved by the 12-member Board of Toronto 2015, follow the terms laid out in their employment contracts, according to organisers.

In a statement to insidethegames, a Toronto 2015 spokesperson insisted the outlay will contribute to overall savings in the long term.

"With recent changes and the overall downsizing of Toronto 2015's executive team, we're going to realise approximately CAD$1.5 million (£835,960/$1.34 million/€1.06 million) in savings," read the statement.

"This money, which would have otherwise gone to compensation, will be repurposed to frontline operations to ensure that we can improve the Games experience for athletes and spectators."

The dismissals of Roper and Lutgens came shortly after former Ontario Deputy Minister for Health, Saäd Rafi, replaced Ian Troop as Toronto 2015 chief executive.

The latest severance payouts follow on from a compensation package paid to former Toronto 2015 chief executive Ian Troop at the start of the year  ©Toronto Star via Getty Images



Rafi took took over from Troop, who was fired last December following ongoing tensions between organisers of the Games and the Ontario Province.

Troop, who had joined Toronto 2015 as chief executive in February 2010, had been in line for a CAD$780,000 (£433,000/$698,000/€551,000) bonus if the Games had come in on budget.

That had caused controversy among opposition parties in Ontario as the Government had revised the budget up to CAD$2.5 billion (£1.4 billion/$2.2 billion/€1.7 billion), nearly double the CAD$1.4 billion (£779 million/$1.3 billion/€989 million) they had originally estimated they would cost when they were awarded the Games in 2009.

Following his dismissal, Troop was later paid a CAD$500,000 (£278,000/$448,000/€353,000) severance package bringing the total cost of dismissals this year to more than CAD$1 million (£556,711/$897,000/€709,123).

The Toronto 2015 Pan American Games are due to take place from July 10 to 26, while the Parapan American Games are scheduled for August 7 to 15.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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