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 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; 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.
Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Agreement Without the prior written consent of the Company, Employee shall not, during the term of this Agreement, or for a two (2) year period of time following the date of termination of this Agreement or the termination of Employee's employment with the Company:
a. Solicit business from, attempt to do business with, or do business with any customer of the Company which either: (1) Employee initially called on, initially serviced, initially did business with or had initial contact with during his/her employment at the Company; or (2) Employee became initially acquainted with or received Confidential Information regarding as a result of his/her employment at the Company. This restriction applies only to businesses that are within the scope of services or products provided by the Company.
b. Induce, solicit or attempt to solicit or induce any employee of the Company (or any affiliate of the Company) to leave their employment with the Company and/or accept employment elsewhere.
Non Competition Confidentiality (a) Executive agrees and acknowledges that reasonable limits on his ability to engage in activities which are competitive with the Company are warranted in order to protect the Company's trade secrets and proprietary information and are warranted in order to protect the Company in developing and maintaining its reputation, good will and status in the marketplace. In that regard, during the 60 months following the Termination Date (the "Continuation Period"), the Executive will not directly or indirectly, on Executive's own behalf or in the service of or on behalf of any other individual or entity, either as a proprietor, employee, agent, independent contractor, consultant, director, officer, partner or stockholder (other than a stockholder of a corporation listed on a national securities exchange or whose stock is regularly traded in the over-the-counter market, provided that the Executive at no time owns, directly or indirectly, in excess of 5% of the outstanding stock of any class of any such corporation):
(i) participate or engage in any activities or business developing, manufacturing, marketing or distributing any products or services offered by the Company as of the Effective Time (as defined in the Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated as of February 14, 2000, by and among the Parent, Silversmith Acquisition Corp. and the Company), or any products or services offered by the Company subsequent to the Effective Time and in which the Executive actively participated, recognizing that the Company offers products and services globally ("Competitive Activities"), including, without limitation, (A) selling goods or rendering services of the type (or similar to the type) sold or rendered by the Company, whether by means of electronic, traditional or other form of commerce; (B) soliciting any person or entity that is a current or prospective customer or has been a customer, in each case, of the Company, while the Executive has been employed by the Company (provided that it shall not be deemed a breach of this Agreement if the Executive solicits such customers for goods or services unrelated to the Competitive Activities) and (C) assisting any person in any way to do, or attempt to do, anything prohibited by clauses (A) or (B) above; or
(ii) solicit (other than pursuant to general, non-targeted advertisements) any employee of the Company, who was an employee at or prior to the Effective Time, to leave the employment of the Company.
(b) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, Executive may remain a director at those companies for which Executive is a director as of the Effective Time, and may engage in any activities or businesses for which the Company has given permission in writing, which shall not be unreasonably withheld (or delayed) following the expiration of three years from the date the Offer is consummated, provided Executive's engaging in such activities or business would not have a material adverse impact on any of the Company's lines of businesses.
(i) The Executive shall not, without the written consent of the Company, disclose to any other person or use, whether directly or indirectly, any Confidential Information (as hereinafter defined) relating to or used by the Company, whether in written, oral or other form. "Confidential Information" shall mean information about the Company, and its clients and customers that is not disclosed by the Company for financial reporting purposes and that was learned by the Executive in the course of employment with the Company, including (without limitation) any proprietary knowledge, product and service designs, trade secrets, manuals, technical information and plans, contracts, systems, procedures, databases, electronic files, disks and printouts, correspondence, internal reports, personnel files, information about Company employees relating to their education, experience, skills, abilities, compensation and benefits, and inter-personal relationships with suppliers to and customers of Company, sales and advertising material, business plans, marketing plans, financial data (including without limitation the revenues, costs or profits associated with services), customer and industry lists, customer information, customer lists coupled with product or service pricing, customer contracts, supplier contacts and other contact information, pricing policies, supplies, agents, risk analyses, engineering information and computer screen designs and computer input and output specifications, inclusive of any pertinent documentation, techniques, processes, technical information and know how. The Executive acknowledges that such Confidential Information is specialized, unique in nature and of great value to the Company, and that such information gives the Company a competitive advantage. The Executive's obligations under this Section 10(c) shall survive the termination of the Continuation Period.
Non Competition and Confidentiality (a) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary set forth elsewhere herein, the RSUs, the shares of common stock of the Company underlying the RSUs, or any proceeds received by the Key Person upon the sale of shares of common stock of the Company underlying the RSUs shall be forfeited by the Key Person to the Company without any consideration therefore, if the Key Person is not in compliance, at any time during the period commencing on the date of this Agreement and ending nine months following the termination of the Key Person’s affiliation with the Company and/or its subsidiaries, with all applicable provisions of the Plan and with the following conditions:
(i) the Key Person shall not directly or indirectly (1) be employed by, engage or have any interest in any business which is or becomes competitive with the Company or its subsidiaries or is or becomes otherwise prejudicial to or in conflict with the interests of the Company or its subsidiaries, (2) induce any customer of the Company or its subsidiaries to patronize such competitive business or otherwise request or advise any such customer to withdraw, curtail or cancel any of its business with the Company or its subsidiaries, or (3) solicit for employment any person employed by the Company or its subsidiaries; provided, however, that this restriction shall not prevent the Key Person from acquiring and holding up to two percent of the outstanding shares of capital stock of any corporation which is or becomes competitive with the Company or is or becomes otherwise prejudicial to or in conflict with the interests of the Company if such shares are available to the general public on a national securities exchange or in the over-the-counter market; and
(ii) the Key Person shall not use or disclose, except for the sole benefit of or with the written consent of the Company, any confidential information relating to the business, processes or products of the Company.
(b) The Company shall notify in writing the Key Person of any violation by the Key Person of this Section 16. The forfeiture shall be effective as of the date of the occurrence of any of the activities set forth in (a) above. If the shares of common stock of the Company underlying the RSUs have been sold, the Key Person shall promptly pay to the Company the amount of the proceeds from such sale. The Key Person hereby consents to a deduction from any amounts owed by the Company to the Key Person from time to time (including amounts owed as wages or other compensation, fringe benefits or vacation pay) to the extent of the amounts owed by the Key Person to the Company under this Section 16. Whether or not the Company elects to make any set-off in whole or in part, the Key Person agrees to timely pay any amounts due under this Section 16. In addition, the Company shall be entitled to injunctive relief for any violation by the Key Person of subsection (a)(ii) of this Section 16.
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.
Confidentiality and Non-Competitions To the Company’s knowledge, no director, officer, key employee or consultant of the Company is subject to any confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-competition agreement or non-solicitation agreement with any employer or prior employer that could reasonably be expected to materially affect his ability to be and act in his respective capacity of the Company or be expected to result in a Material Adverse Change.
Non-Competition Covenants a. The provisions of this subparagraph a. shall apply both during normal working hours and at all other times including, but not limited to, nights, weekends and vacation time, while Optionee is employed by the Company or any Subsidiary. Optionee shall not directly or indirectly (i) engage in any employment, business, or activity that is competitive with the business of the Company or any Subsidiary, (ii) assist any other person or organization in competing with, or in preparing to engage in competition with, the business of the Company or any Subsidiary. Direct competition shall include, but not be limited to, the design, development, production, promotion or sale of products, software, or services competitive with those of the Company or any Subsidiary. In addition, Optionee shall not directly or indirectly (i) engage in any employment, business, or activity that is competitive with either (A) the proposed business of the Subsidiary that employs Optionee (“Employing Subsidiary”) or (B) any proposed business of any of the Company’s other Subsidiaries (the “Non-Employing Subsidiaries”) of which Optionee has actual knowledge, or (ii) assist any other person or organization in competing with, or in preparing to engage in competition with, either (A) the proposed business of the Employing Subsidiary or (B) any proposed business of any Non-Employing Subsidiary of which Optionee has actual knowledge.
b. The provisions of this subparagraph b. shall apply during Optionee’s employment with the Company or any Subsidiary and for a period of twelve months after Optionee ceases to be employed by the Company or any Subsidiary. Optionee shall not directly or indirectly solicit to conduct any Competitive Business with, or conduct any Competitive Business with, any (i) then-current customer of the Employing Subsidiary or (ii) any person that has been a customer of the Employing Subsidiary within the six months prior to the time of Optionee’s separation from employment. The phrase “Competitive Business” means the line(s) of business(es) conducted by the Employing Subsidiary.
c. The provisions of this subparagraph c. shall apply during Optionee’s employment with the Company or any Subsidiary and for a period of 12 months after Optionee’s separation from employment. Optionee shall not directly or indirectly solicit to hire, or cause to be hired, any employee of the Company or any Subsidiary as an employee or agent of, or consultant to, any business enterprise that Optionee is associated with.
d. Each non-competition covenant of Optionee contained in the preceding provisions of this Paragraph 10 (the “non-competition covenant”) shall be construed as an agreement independent of any other provision of this Agreement and the existence of any claim or cause of action of Optionee against the Company or any Subsidiary, whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by the Company or any Subsidiary of such non-competition covenant.
e. The Company and Optionee have in good faith used their best efforts to make each non-competition covenant contained in the preceding provisions of this Paragraph 10 reasonable in both scope and in duration. It is not anticipated, nor is it intended, by either party to this Agreement that any court or other tribunal having jurisdiction over the matter will find it necessary to reform any non-competition covenant to make it reasonable in both scope and in duration, or otherwise. If any non-competition covenant is deemed by a tribunal having jurisdiction over the matter to be unlawful or unenforceable, such provision will be deemed severable from this Agreement and such provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall otherwise remain in full force and effect and be enforceable. Furthermore, in lieu of such unlawful or unenforceable provision, there shall be added automatically as part of this Agreement a provision as similar in terms as may be possible and be enforceable.
f. Optionee is agreeing to the provisions of this Paragraph 10 in consideration of the grant of this Option. The provisions of this Paragraph 10 shall be valid and enforceable by the Company and its Subsidiaries, regardless of whether or not any of this Option granted hereunder actually becomes exercisable, or whether or not Optionee actually exercises any rights under this Option. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between any provision of this Paragraph 10 and any similar or analogous provision of any other agreement (either currently in effect or that may be entered into in the future) between Optionee, on the one hand, and the Company or any Subsidiary, on the other hand, whichever provision is most favorable to the Company or such Subsidiary shall govern.
Non-Competition Agreement (a) Executive shall not, during the term of his employment hereunder, be engaged in any other business activity pursued for gain, profit or other pecuniary advantage if such activity interferes in any material respect with Executive's duties and responsibilities hereunder. The foregoing limitations shall not be construed as prohibiting Executive from making personal investments in such form or manner as will neither require his services in the operation or affairs of the companies or enterprises in which such investments are made nor violate the terms of this paragraph 3. In addition, Executive shall not, during the period of his employment by or with the Company, and for a period of two (2) years immediately following the termination of his employment under this Agreement, for any reason whatsoever, other than a termination by the Company without cause or by Executive for Good Reason, directly or indirectly, for himself or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person, company, partnership, corporation or business of whatever nature:
(i) engage, as an officer, director, shareholder, owner, partner, joint venturer, or in a managerial capacity, whether as an employee, independent contractor, consultant or advisor, or as a sales representative, in any business in direct competition with the Company or Metals, within 200 miles of where the Company or any of Metals' subsidiaries conducts business, including any territory serviced by the Company or Metals or any of such subsidiaries (the "Territory");
(ii) call upon any person who is, at that time, within the Territory, an employee of the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) in a managerial capacity for the purpose or with the intent of enticing such employee away from or out of the employ of the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof);
(iii) call upon any person or entity which is, at that time, or which has been, within one (1) year prior to that time, a customer of the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) within the Territory for the purpose of soliciting or selling products or services in direct competition with the Company or Metals within the Territory;
(iv) call upon any prospective acquisition candidate, on Executive's own behalf or on behalf of any competitor, which candidate was, to Executive's actual knowledge after due inquiry, either called upon by the Company or Metals (including the respective subsidiaries thereof) or for which the Company or Metals made an acquisition analysis, for the purpose of acquiring such entity. Notwithstanding the above, the foregoing covenant shall not be deemed to prohibit Executive from acquiring as an investment not more than one percent (1%) of the capital stock of a competing business, whose stock is traded on a national securities exchange or on an over-the-counter or similar market.
(b) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to the Company and Metals as a result of a breach of the foregoing covenant, and because of the immediate and irreparable damage that could be caused to the Company and Metals for which they would have no other adequate remedy, Executive agrees that the foregoing covenant may be enforced by Metals or the Company in the event of breach by him, by injunctions and restraining orders.
(c) It is agreed by the parties that the foregoing covenants in this paragraph 3 impose a reasonable restraint on Executive in light of the activities and business of the Company or Metals, as the case may be (including Metals' other subsidiaries) on the date of the execution of this Agreement and the current plans of Metals (including Metals' other subsidiaries); but it is also the intent of the Company and Executive that such covenants be construed and enforced in accordance with the changing activities, business and locations of the Company and Metals, as the case may be (including Metals' other subsidiaries) throughout the term of this covenant, whether before or after the date of termination of the employment of Executive. For example, if, during the term of this Agreement, the Company or Metals, as the case may be (including Metals' other subsidiaries) engages in new and different activities, enters a new business or establishes new locations for its current activities or business in addition to or other than the activities or business enumerated under the Recitals above or the locations currently established therefor, then Executive will be precluded from soliciting the customers or employees of such new activities or business or from such new location and from directly competing with such new business within 200 miles of its then-established operating location(s) through the term of this covenant. It is further agreed by the parties hereto that, in the event that Executive shall cease to be employed hereunder, and shall enter into a business or pursue other activities not in competition with the Company or Metals (including Metals' other subsidiaries), or similar activities or business in locations the operation of which, under such circumstances, does not violate clause (i) of this paragraph 3, and in any event such new business, activities or location are not in violation of this paragraph 3 or of Executive's obligations under this paragraph 3, if any, Executive shall not be chargeable with a violation of this paragraph 3 if the Company or Metals (including Metals' other subsidiaries) shall thereafter enter the same, similar or a competitive (i) business, (ii) course of activities or (iii) location, as applicable.
(d) The covenants in this paragraph 3 are severable and separate, and the unenforceability of any specific covenant shall not affect the provisions of any other covenant. Moreover, in the event any 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 the court deems reasonable, and the Agreement shall thereby be reformed.
(e) All of the covenants in this paragraph 3 shall be construed as an agreement independent of any other provision in this Agreement, and the existence of any claim or cause of action of Executive against the Company or Metals, whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by Metals or the Company of such covenants. It is specifically agreed that the period of two (2) years following termination of employment stated at the beginning of this paragraph 3, during which the agreements and covenants of Executive made in this paragraph 3 shall be effective, shall be computed by excluding from such computation any time during which Executive is in violation of any provision of this paragraph 3.
