Strigl, who has 18.5 million reasons to smile

It used to be when a truly valued employee choose to retire, he or she might get away with a gold watch and a retirement bash, but those days are over.

While the rest of America copes with layoffs, high unemployment, and a decline in real income, the chosen few retire in style, walking away with stunning parting gifts.

Take Verizon’s Dennis F. Strigl, the company’s former president and chief operating officer.  After years of service to Verizon, he decided to retire this past December.  In addition to whatever parties his fellow employees threw him at the end of the year, Strigl will also receive an $18.5 million separation payment this July.  That’s 14 times his former annual salary of $1.32 million dollars.  Verizon claims in its filings with the Securities & Exchange Commission that it was “required” to cough up the 18 million because of Strigl’s employment contract.

DealBook’s Perk Watch found out plenty more:

There are other goodies thrown in as well for Mr. Strigl, including a $1.9 million short-term plan award, a $451,000 executive life insurance benefit, and a tax gross-up worth $367,478. Mr. Strigl will also have his telecommunications services covered for the next five years, which the company estimates will cost around $11,500 ($192 a month).

A Verizon spokesman, Bob Varettoni, said in an e-mail message that Mr. Strigl’s employment agreement “was used as a retention vehicle when Bell Atlantic completed its acquisition of GTE in 2000, forming Verizon and Verizon Wireless. So it was a contractual payment under a legacy employment agreement.”

Toben

Walk into your boss’ office and ask where your retention vehicle is in your employment contract.

Executive suite Money Parties don’t stop with Strigl.  Doreen A. Toben, who stepped down as chief financial officer last March and left the company in June, received $3.5 million under her employment agreement and also entered into a one-year consulting agreement that paid her $125,000 each month. And at the end of 2008, when William P. Barr retired as Verizon’s general counsel, he received a payment of $10.38 million six months after he stepped down from the company, according to Perk Watch.

For those on the lower floors, the company will provide you a free cardboard box to collect your belongings and get out of the building.  After slashing 17,000 jobs in 2009, Verizon has announced it expects to cut another 13,000 employees in 2010.