Confidentiality, Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Employee agrees, as a condition to Employee’s employment with the Company, to execute the Company’s standard form of Employee Non-Disclosure, Invention Release and Non-Competition Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A.
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation; Non-Disparagement (a) The Company shall provide Employee access to Confidential Information for use only during the Employment Period, and Employee acknowledges and agrees that the Company Group will be entrusting Employee, in Employee’s unique and special capacity, with developing the goodwill of the Company Group, and as an express incentive for the Company to enter into this Agreement and employ Employee hereunder, Employee has voluntarily agreed to the covenants set forth in this Section 10. Employee agrees and acknowledges that the limitations and restrictions set forth herein, including geographical and temporal restrictions on certain competitive activities, are reasonable in scope and purpose in all respects, do not interfere with public interests, will not cause Employee undue hardship, and are material and substantial parts of this Agreement intended and necessary to prevent unfair competition and to protect the Company Group’s Confidential Information, goodwill and legitimate business interests.
(b) During the Prohibited Period, Employee shall not, without the prior written approval of the Board, directly or indirectly, for Employee or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person or entity of any nature:
(i) engage in or participate within the Market Area in competition with any member of the Company Group in any aspect of the Business, including by directly or indirectly: (A) owning, managing, operating, or being an officer or director of, any business that competes with any member of the Company Group in the Market Area, or (B) joining, becoming an employee or consultant of, or otherwise being affiliated with, any person or entity engaged in, or planning to engage in, the Business in the Market Area in competition, or anticipated competition, with any member of the Company Group in any capacity (with respect to this clause (B)) in which Employee’s duties or responsibilities are the same as or similar to the duties or responsibilities that Employee had on behalf of any member of the Company Group;
(ii) appropriate any Business Opportunity of, or relating to, any member of the Company Group located in the Market Area;
(iii) solicit, canvass, approach, encourage, entice or induce any customer or supplier of any member of the Company Group to cease or lessen such customer’s or supplier’s business with any member of the Company Group; or
(iv) solicit, canvass, approach, encourage, entice or induce any employee or contractor of any member of the Company Group to terminate his, her or its employment or engagement with any member of the Company Group.
(c) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to the Company Group as a result of a breach or threatened breach of the covenants set forth in Section 9 and in this Section 10, and because of the immediate and irreparable damage that would be caused to the members of the Company Group for which they would have no other adequate remedy, the Company and each other member of the Company Group shall be entitled to enforce the foregoing covenants, in the event of a breach or threatened breach, by injunctions and restraining orders from any court of competent jurisdiction, without the necessity of showing any actual damages or that money damages would not afford an adequate remedy, and without the necessity of posting any bond or other security. The aforementioned equitable relief shall not be the Company’s or any other member of the Company Group’s exclusive remedy for a breach but instead shall be in addition to all other rights and remedies available to the Company and each other member of the Company Group at law and equity.
(d) The covenants in this Section 10, and each provision and portion hereof, are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant (or portion thereof) shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant (or portion thereof). Moreover, in the event any arbitrator or court of competent jurisdiction shall determine that the scope, time or territorial restrictions set forth are unreasonable, then it is the intention of the parties that such restrictions be enforced to the fullest extent which such arbitrator or court deems reasonable, and this Agreement shall thereby be reformed.
(e) The following terms shall have the following meanings:
Confidentiality; Non-Competition (a) Executive agrees that he will not, at any time during or after the Term, make use of or divulge to any other person, firm or corporation any trade or business secret, process, method or means, or any other confidential information concerning the business or policies of the Company, which he may have learned in connection with his employment. For purposes of this Agreement, a "trade or business secret, process, method or means, or any other confidential information" shall mean and include written information reasonably treated as confidential or as a trade secret by the Company. Executive's obligation under this Section 4.3 (a) shall not apply to any information which (i) is known publicly; (ii) is in the public domain or hereafter enters the public domain without the fault of Executive; (iii) is known to Executive prior to his receipt of such information from the Company, as evidenced by written records of Executive or (iv) is hereafter disclosed to Executive by a third party not under an obligation of confidence to the Company. Executive agrees not to remove from the premises of the Company, except as an employee of the Company in pursuit of the business of the Company or except as specifically permitted in writing by the Company, any document or other object containing or reflecting any such confidential information. Executive recognizes that all such documents and objects, whether developed by him or by someone else, will be the sole exclusive property of the Company. Upon termination of his employment hereunder, Executive shall forthwith deliver to the Company all such confidential information, including without limitation all lists of customers, correspondence, accounts, records and any other documents or property made or held by him or under his control in relation to the business or affairs of the Company, and no copy of any such confidential information shall be retained by him.
(b) If Executive's employment is terminated for any reason other than for Cause, Executive shall not for a period of one year from the date of such termination, directly or indirectly, whether as an employee, consultant, independent contractor, partner, or joint venturer, (i) perform any services for a competitor which has material operations which directly compete with the Company in the sale of any products sold by the Company at the time of the termination of Executive's employment; (ii) solicit or induce, or in any manner attempt to solicit or induce, any person employed by, or as agent of, the Company to terminate such person's contract of employment or agency, as the case may be, with the Company or (iii) divert, or attempt to divert, any person, concern, or entity from doing business with the Company, nor will he attempt to induce any such person, concern or entity to cease being a customer or supplier of the Company. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, this Section 4.3(b) shall not prevent Executive from acquiring securities representing not more than 5% of the outstanding voting securities of any publicly held corporation.
Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Non-Disparagement (a) During the Term, the Executive shall not (1) provide any services, directly or indirectly, to any other business or commercial entity without the consent of the Board or (2) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity without the consent of the Board; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 5(a) shall be deemed to prohibit the Executive from acquiring, solely as an investment, shares of capital stock (or other interests) of any corporation (or other entity) not exceeding two percent (2%) of such corporation’s (or other entity’s) then-outstanding shares of capital stock (or other interests).
(b) If this Agreement is terminated by the Company for Cause (as defined in Section 6(c)) or if the Executive terminates this Agreement other than in accordance with Section 7 or 8 hereof, or if the Executive is receiving Severance Payments in accordance with Section 9(c) or payments under Section 9(d), then for a period of one (1) year following the date of termination the Executive shall not (1) provide any services, directly or indirectly, to any other business or commercial entity in the Company’s Field of Interest (as defined in Section 12), (2) solicit any customers or suppliers of the Company, (3) attempt to persuade or encourage customers or suppliers of the Company not to do business with the Company and/or to do business with a competitor of the Company, (4) participate in the formation of any business or commercial entity engaged primarily in the Company’s Field of Interest, or (5) directly or indirectly employ, or seek to employ or secure the services in any capacity of, any person employed at that time by the Company or any of its Affiliates, or otherwise encourage or entice any such person to leave such employment; provided, however, that nothing contained in this Section 5(b) shall be deemed to prohibit the Executive from acquiring, solely as an investment, shares of capital stock (or other interests) of any corporation (or other entity) in the Company’s Field of Interest not exceeding two percent (2%) of such corporation’s (or other entity’s) then outstanding shares of capital stock (or other interests). This Section 5(b) shall be subject to written waivers, which may be obtained by the Executive from the Company.
(c) At no time during the Term of this Agreement or thereafter will the Executive knowingly make any written or oral untrue statement or any statement that disparages the Company or its Affiliates or will the Company knowingly make any written or oral untrue statement or any statement that disparages the Executive.
(d) If the Executive commits a breach, or threatens to commit a breach, of any of the provisions of this Section 5, the Company shall have the right and remedy to have the provisions of this Agreement, as the case may be, specifically enforced by any court having equity jurisdiction, it being acknowledged and agreed that any such breach or threatened breach will cause irreparable injury to the Company and that money damages will not provide an adequate remedy to the Company.
(e) If any of the covenants contained in this Section 5 or any part hereof or thereof, is hereafter construed to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable by a court or regulatory agency or tribunal of competent jurisdiction, such court, agency or tribunal shall have the power, and hereby is directed, to substitute for or limit such provision(s) in order as closely as possible to effectuate the original intent of the parties with respect to such invalid, illegal or unenforceable covenant(s) generally and so to enforce such substituted covenant(s). Subject to the foregoing, the invalidity, illegality or unenforceability of any one or more of the covenants contained in this Section 5 shall not affect the validity of any other provision hereof, which shall be given full effect without regard to the invalid portions.
(f) If any of the covenants contained in this Section 5, or any part hereof or thereof, is held to be unenforceable because of the duration of such provision, the area covered thereby or the extent thereof, the parties agree that the tribunal making such determination shall have the power, and hereby is directed, to reduce the duration, area and/or extent of such provision and, in its reduced form, such provision shall then be enforceable.
(g) Anything else contained in this Agreement to the contrary notwithstanding, the parties hereto intend to and hereby do confer jurisdiction to enforce the covenants contained in this Section 5 A upon the courts of any state within the geographical scope of such covenants. In the event that the courts of any one or more of such states shall hold any such covenant wholly unenforceable by reason of the breadth of such scope or otherwise, it is the intention of the parties hereto that such determination not bar or in any way affect the Company’s right to the relief provided above in the courts of any other state within the geographical scope of such other covenants, as to breaches of such covenants in such other jurisdictions, the above covenants as they relate to each state being, for this purpose, severable into diverse and independent covenants.
Prohibition on Non-Compete Restrictions Grantee shall not require any employees or Subcontractors to agree to any conditions, such as non-compete clauses or other contractual arrangements, that would limit or restrict such persons or entities from employment or contracting with the State of Texas.
Non Competition Non Solicitation and Confidentiality As a condition to the receipt of this Award, you must agree to the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Confidentiality Agreement attached hereto as Exhibit A by executing that Agreement. Failure to execute and return the Non-Competition, Non-Solicitation and Confidentiality Agreement within 120 days of the Grant Date shall constitute your decision to decline to accept this Award.
Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Covenants a. The Executive acknowledges that i) he will be employed as a high-level employee in an executive and managerial capacity; ii) his employment with the Company gives him access to confidential and proprietary information concerning the Company; iii) his prior employment with South West gave him access to confidential and proprietary information concerning South West; iv) the agreements and covenants contained in this Section 6 (the "Covenants") are essential to protect the business of the Company and to protect the Company's investment in South West; and v) the Executive is to receive consideration pursuant to this Agreement and the Merger Agreement.
b. During the period of the Executive's employment, the Executive agrees that he will not, on behalf of anyone other than the Company, engage in any managerial, executive, sales, or marketing activities related to any business in which the Company is or becomes engaged during the Executive's employment. The Executive acknowledges the competitive nature of the business and the extensive geographic markets served by the Company. The Executive acknowledges that because of his position with the Company his duties will require him to perform, supervise, or assist in performing work throughout the markets served by the Company. The Executive further acknowledges that because of his position with the Company and the broad scope of his duties, he will be in a position to cause substantial harm to the Company were he to compete in the business of the Company or any other business in which the Company is or becomes engaged during Executive's employment in the Company's markets. Given the broad scope of Executive's duties, he acknowledges that the geographic scope of the covenants in this paragraph shall be limited to the continental United States.
c. Should the Executive (i) be terminated with or without cause following the first 90 days of this Agreement, or (ii) resign from his employment or otherwise terminate this Agreement at any time, he agrees that for a twelve (12) month period following the termination of his employment with the Company, the Executive shall not hire or solicit any employee of the Company employed at the time of his termination, or encourage any such employee to leave such employment.
d. If the Executive commits a material breach of, the Covenants, the Company shall have the rights and remedy (in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other rights and remedies available to the Company at law or in equity) to seek injunctive relief, including permanent injunctions; (ii) to have the Covenants specifically enforced by any court of competent jurisdiction (it being agreed that any breach or threatened breach of the Covenants would cause irreparable injury to the Company and that money damages would not provide an adequate remedy to the Company; and (iii) to cease any severance payments or benefits which the Executive or his eligible dependents may otherwise be due.
e. The Executive agrees that the Covenants are necessary for the reasonable and proper protection of the Company and that the Covenants are reasonable in respect of subject matter, length of time, and geographic scope. The Executive further acknowledges that the Covenants will not unreasonably restrict him from earning a livelihood following the termination of his employment with the Company.
f. If any court of competent jurisdiction determines that the Covenants, or any part thereof, are invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of the Covenants shall not thereby be affected and shall be given full effect, without regard to the invalid portions. In such event, the court shall have the power (and the parties hereto request the court) to reduce or modify the duration or scope, or any other unenforceable aspect of such provision, as the case may be, and, in its reduced or modified form, enforce such provision to the maximum extent permissible.
g. The provisions of this Section 6 so far as they relate to the period after the end of the term of this Agreement shall continue to have effect and shall operate as a separate agreement between the Company and the Executive; provided, however, that the provisions of Section 6 (b) shall terminate.
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation; Confidentiality (a) For a period from the Closing Date until the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall, directly or indirectly, own, manage, operate, control or participate in the ownership, management, operation or control of any business, whether in corporate, proprietorship or partnership form or otherwise, engaged in the Business or that otherwise competes with the Business (a “Restricted Business”). The parties hereto specifically acknowledge and agree that the remedy at law for any breach of the foregoing will be inadequate and that Newco, in addition to any other relief available to it, shall be entitled to temporary and permanent injunctive relief without the necessity of proving actual damage or posting any bond whatsoever.
(b) For a period from the Closing Date to the fifth (5th) anniversary of the Closing Date, neither the Company nor any of its Subsidiaries shall: (i) cause, solicit, induce or encourage any Employees of the Company to leave such employment or hire, employ or otherwise engage any such individual; or (ii) cause, induce or encourage any material actual or prospective client, customer, supplier or licensor of the Business (including any existing or former customer of the Company and any Person that becomes a client or customer of the Business after the Closing) or any other Person who has a material business relationship with the Business, to terminate or modify any such actual or prospective relationship.
(c) The covenants and undertakings contained in this Section 6.7 relate to matters which are of a special, unique and extraordinary character and a violation of any of the terms of this Section 6.7 will cause irreparable injury to Newco, the amount of which will be impossible to estimate or determine and which cannot be adequately compensated. Accordingly, the remedy at law for any breach of this Section 6.7 will be inadequate. Therefore, Newco will be entitled to an injunction, restraining order or other equitable relief from any court of competent jurisdiction in the event of any breach of this Section 6.7. The rights and remedies provided by this Section 6.7 are cumulative and in addition to any other rights and remedies which Newco may have hereunder or at law or in equity.
(d) The parties hereto agree that, if any court of competent jurisdiction in a final nonappealable judgment determines that a specified time period, a specified geographical area, a specified business limitation or any other relevant feature of this Section 6.7 is unreasonable, arbitrary or against public policy, then a lesser time period, geographical area, business limitation or other relevant feature which is determined by such court to be reasonable, not arbitrary and not against public policy may be enforced against the applicable party.
(e) The Company shall use its commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the agreement of the Subsidiaries of the Company to the provisions of this Section 6.7 in form and content reasonably satisfactory to Newco.
Mutual Nondisparagement The Executive and the Company each agree that, following the Executive’s termination of employment, neither the Executive, nor the Company will make any public statements which materially disparage the other party. The Company shall not be liable for any breach of its obligations under this paragraph if it informs its directors and executive officers, as such term is defined in Rule 3b-7 promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, of the content of its covenant hereunder and takes reasonable measures to ensure that such individuals honor the Company’s agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this Section 10(b) shall prohibit any person from making truthful statements when required by order of a court or other governmental or regulatory body having jurisdiction or to enforce any legal right including, without limitation, the terms of this Agreement.
Non-Solicitation/Non-Compete Executive hereby covenants and agrees that, for a period of one (1) year following his termination of employment with the Bank (other than a termination of employment following a Change in Control), Executive shall not, without the written consent of the Bank, either directly or indirectly:
(i) solicit, offer employment to, or take any other action intended (or that a reasonable person acting in like circumstances would expect) to have the effect of causing any officer or employee of the Bank, or any of its respective subsidiaries or affiliates, to terminate his employment and accept employment or become affiliated with, or provide services for compensation in any capacity whatsoever to, any business whatsoever that competes with the business of the Bank, or any of their direct or indirect subsidiaries or affiliates, that has headquarters or offices within 25 miles of any location(s) in which the Bank has business offices or has filed an application for regulatory approval to establish an office (the “Restricted Territory”);
(ii) become an officer, employee, consultant, director, independent contractor, agent, joint venturer, partner or trustee of any savings bank, savings and loan association, savings and loan holding company, credit union, bank or bank holding company, insurance company or agency, any mortgage or loan broker or any other entity that competes with the business of the Bank or any of their direct or indirect subsidiaries or affiliates, that: (i) has a headquarters within the Restricted Territory or (ii) has one or more offices, but is not headquartered, within the Restricted Territory, but in the latter case, only if Executive would be employed, conduct business or have other responsibilities or duties within the Restricted Territory; or
(iii) solicit, provide any information, advice or recommendation or take any other action intended (or that a reasonable person acting in like circumstances would expect) to have the effect of causing any customer of the Bank to terminate an existing business or commercial relationship with the Bank.
