Marryatt eyes $500,000 golden handshake

If Christchurch City Council chief executive Tony Marryatt leaves, he could walk away with $500,000 – even if he is found responsible for the consenting problems.

City employment law experts spoken to yesterday said a severance package worth six to 12 months’ salary was not unusual at the senior executive level.

The difficulty for the council, if they hope to pay Marryatt out, is that any payout could be unpalatable to ratepayers, given past controversies over his salary, including a proposed $68,000 pay rise from December 2011.

Marryatt, who is currently on leave and under investigation, has a total salary package just shy of $480,000. He also has various directorships, including of Civic Assurance, worth tens of thousands of dollars in total.

His contract with the council expires in December next year.

Christchurch employment law specialist Dean Kilpatrick said the council was in an ‘‘unenviable position’’. It appeared Marryatt was on agreed leave, rather than suspended, and whether he would be sacked would come down to the investigation.

If the council found Marryatt failed in his duty to adequately report critical consenting problems to elected members – and he had no reasonable explanation why not – that could be grounds for dismissal. ‘‘If there is a golden handshake in this, the public won’t like it,’’ Kilpatrick said.

But Marryatt could also lodge a