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CASINO: Top Seneca Gaming executives resign
General manager of Seneca Niagara Casino will temporarily fill CEO role
By Denise Jewell
Niagara Gazette
Two top Seneca Gaming Corp. executives resigned abruptly Wednesday with little explanation and will be replaced temporarily by the general manager of the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel.
Seneca Gaming Chairman Barry Snyder Sr. announced that Chief Executive Officer John Pasqualoni and Chief Operating Office Joseph D’Amato each submitted resignations effectively immediately.
The corporation’s Board of Directors met Wednesday morning to accept the resignations and name Brian Hansberry interim chief executive officer.
A written statement released by Snyder said they had resigned for personal reasons.
“We understand the personal reasons for this decision, but are disappointed to be losing two individuals who have been a tremendous part of our success and development into one of the premier gaming companies in the country,” Snyder said.
Snyder, who was formerly the president of the Seneca Nation of Indians and has remained on as chairman of Seneca Gaming, said the board would conduct a national search for Pasqualoni’s replacement.
Phil Pantano, a Seneca Gaming spokesman, declined to elaborate on the reasons for their departure and said only that Pasqualoni and D’Amato had both “decided that it is the right time to move on.”
Both executives will continue to receive their base pay for four months, according to the terms of the executives’ separation agreements filed Wednesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Seneca Gaming, which operates the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel and the Seneca Allegany Casino and Hotel, is also pursuing plans to construct a 6,000-square-foot casino in Buffalo. A U.S. district judge last month ordered the National Indian Gaming Commission to reconsider allowing the Senecas to build a casino on the Buffalo land.
Pasqualoni, 60, earned a base salary of $923,750 and had a contract with the corporation until Sept. 30, 2007. Pasqualoni had announced he would retire last year, but then agreed to remain on in the position through the end of this contract at the board’s request.
A New Jersey native, Pasqualoni joined Seneca Gaming in October 2002 as the vice president of slot operations and marketing. He later served as senior vice president and chief operating officer before replacing G. Mickey Brown as chief executive officer in 2005.
In a written statement released by the corporation, Pasqualoni thanked the board of directors and said “the time is right for me to step away to enjoy my life in New Jersey and explore what future opportunities may lie ahead.”
D’Amato, 58, earned a base salary of $517,603 with a bonus of $221,000 in 2006. D’Amato joined Seneca Gaming in December 2002 as vice president of finance and was later named chief operating officer in June.
Both exiting executives praised the corporation’s employees in their statements.
Neither Pasqualoni nor D’Amato returned calls for comment Wednesday.
Hansberry began working for Seneca Gaming in 2002. He was named general manager of the Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel in August. |
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