Robert Dépatie, a former Rogers Communications Inc. director who currently serves as president and chief operating officer of the telecom’s home and business division, is retiring at the end of the year.
Mr. Dépatie, who was at one point chair of the board of directors’ human-resources committee, joined the telecom’s management team in December, 2021, following a tumultuous boardroom battle that resulted in the company’s then-CEO Joe Natale being replaced by its former chief financial officer Tony Staffieri.
The announcement of Mr. Dépatie’s retirement comes less than five months after Rogers unveiled its revamped leadership team following the closing of its deal to purchase Shaw.
Mr. Dépatie’s role was created as part of a reorganization that saw Mr. Staffieri split up the telecom’s cable and wireless operations into separate divisions, reverting back to a corporate structure that the telecom had moved away from under its previous leadership.
Mr. Staffieri announced Mr. Dépatie’s departure, which will come two years after his appointment to the role, in a note sent to employees on Monday and obtained by The Globe and Mail.
“As many of you know, Robert stepped down from our board in 2021 to join our executive leadership team and to help bring Rogers and Shaw together. Given the merger is now closed and integration is progressing ahead of schedule, Robert believes now is a good time to transition into retirement,” Mr. Staffieri wrote, thanking Mr. Dépatie for his “invaluable support.”
Mr. Dépatie was formerly the CEO of Quebecor Inc. and cited health reasons when he quit after 11 months in that role. He stepped down from a subsequent position as chief executive of Groupe St-Hubert, Quebec’s most popular barbecue chicken chain, after just three months.
Mr. Staffieri added that in light of Mr. Dépatie’s departure, the two divisions – residential and business – that previously reported to the executive will now report directly to Mr. Staffieri.
The residential side of the business will be overseen by chief transformation officer Zoran Stakic. Mr. Stakic, a former Shaw executive who is based in Calgary, joined Rogers when it acquired Shaw earlier this year for $20-billion.
Mr. Staffieri praised Mr. Stakic as a “seasoned operator and leader” with 25 years of deep operating experience working for Shaw and Sprint, and expertise in product development, business and technical operations, cable network technology and customer experience.
The company is also adding Tom Turner, president of Rogers Business, to its executive leadership team. Mr. Turner has more than 30 years of experience at Rogers in the areas of business planning and sales and customer service.
“He has served as president of Rogers Business for the past year and during this time, has made strong and steady progress in driving double-digit growth,” Mr. Staffieri wrote.
Among the leadership changes that Rogers announced back in April, shortly after closing the Shaw deal, were the appointment of former federal industry minister Navdeep Bains to the newly created role of chief corporate affairs officer, as well as the departure of chief regulatory officer Ted Woodhead.
Mr. Woodhead is one of several former executives suing the telecom for wrongful dismissal. Rogers, meanwhile, has said he was let go owing to performance issues.
Mr. Natale is also suing the company, seeking at least $24-million for wrongful dismissal and breach of contract, as well as “punitive, moral and aggravated damages.”
Rogers has countersued Mr. Natale, arguing that he should return at least $15.4-million in severance payments after the company retroactively made his 2021 dismissal for cause.
Since the Shaw takeover closed, Rogers has also been eliminating overlapping roles and has provided voluntary departure packages to roughly 1,200 employees.
Alexandra Posadzki