Non-Competition Period The "non-competition period" shall begin on January 1, 2017 and shall end twelve (12) months after the Employee's termination of employment; provided, however, that the "non-competition period" shall end on the date Employee's employment ends in the event of Employee's termination for "good reason" (as defined in paragraph 6(d)), or Employee's termination without "cause" (as defined in paragraph 3(d)).
Lock-Up Period Participant hereby agrees that Participant shall not offer, pledge, sell, contract to sell, sell any option or contract to purchase, purchase any option or contract to sell, grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, lend, or otherwise transfer or dispose of, directly or indirectly, any Common Stock (or other securities) of the Company or enter into any swap, hedging or other arrangement that transfers to another, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of any Common Stock (or other securities) of the Company held by Participant (other than those included in the registration) for a period specified by the representative of the underwriters of Common Stock (or other securities) of the Company not to exceed one hundred and eighty (180) days following the effective date of any registration statement of the Company filed under the Securities Act (or such other period as may be requested by the Company or the underwriters to accommodate regulatory restrictions on (i) the publication or other distribution of research reports and (ii) analyst recommendations and opinions, including, but not limited to, the restrictions contained in NASD Rule 2711(f)(4) or NYSE Rule 472(f)(4), or any successor provisions or amendments thereto). Participant agrees to execute and deliver such other agreements as may be reasonably requested by the Company or the underwriter which are consistent with the foregoing or which are necessary to give further effect thereto. In addition, if requested by the Company or the representative of the underwriters of Common Stock (or other securities) of the Company, Participant shall provide, within ten (10) days of such request, such information as may be required by the Company or such representative in connection with the completion of any public offering of the Company’s securities pursuant to a registration statement filed under the Securities Act. The obligations described in this Section 4 shall not apply to a registration relating solely to employee benefit plans on Form S-1 or Form S-8 or similar forms that may be promulgated in the future, or a registration relating solely to a Commission Rule 145 transaction on Form S-4 or similar forms that may be promulgated in the future. The Company may impose stop-transfer instructions with respect to the shares of Common Stock (or other securities) subject to the foregoing restriction until the end of said one hundred and eighty (180) day (or other) period. Participant agrees that any transferee of the Option or shares acquired pursuant to the Option shall be bound by this Section 4.
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-Solicitation; Non-Competition (a) In further consideration of the compensation to be paid to Executive hereunder, Executive acknowledges that in the course of his employment with the Company Group, he has and will continue to become familiar with the Company Group’s trade secrets and with other Confidential Information concerning the Company Group and that his services shall be of special, unique and extraordinary value to the Company Group. Therefore, Executive agrees that while an employee of the Company Group, Executive will not directly or indirectly compete against any member of the Company Group or directly or indirectly divert or attempt to divert any business from any member of the Company Group anywhere such company is doing business.
(b) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not, directly or indirectly, solicit for the purpose of providing, or otherwise provide, any products or services competitive with the products or services offered by (or planned to be offered by, assuming Executive was aware of those plans while employed by Company) the Company Group to any customer of the Company Group with whom/which Executive had contact on behalf of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the end of Executive’s employment with the Company.
(c) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not, directly or indirectly, solicit for the purpose of providing, or otherwise provide, any products or services competitive with the products or services offered by (or planned to be offered by, assuming Executive was aware of those plans while employed by Company) the Company Group to any customer of the Company Group about whom/which Executive acquired non-public information during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the end of Executive’s employment with the Company.
(d) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not request or advise any customer, supplier, licensee, licensor, landlord or other business relation of the Company Group with whom/which Executive had contact on behalf of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the termination of Executive’s employment with the Company to withdraw, curtail or cancel its business dealings with such member of the Company Group.
(e) Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not directly or indirectly recruit or solicit any employee of the Company Group for employment or encourage any employee of the Company Group to leave such member of the Company Group’s employ. An employee shall be deemed covered by this clause (e) while employed by the Company Group and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter.
(f) In addition, Executive agrees that for the twelve (12) months following the termination of his employment, Executive will not provide, in any capacity, Restricted Services to any business located in the United States or Germany which provides services or products competitive with those sold or provided by any member of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding the end of Executive’s employment with the Company. The term “Restricted Services” shall mean services similar to those which Executive provided any member of the Company Group during the twenty-four (24) months preceding Executive’s termination of employment, for whatever reason, and which would involve use or disclosure of the Company’s Confidential Information.
Non-Solicitation and Non-Compete The Executive agrees that:
(i) except as agreed by the Board, during the term hereof, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, engage in any outside activity, whether or not competitive with the business of the Company, that could foreseeably give rise to a conflict of interest or otherwise interfere with his duties and obligations to the Company;
(ii) during the term hereof and for twelve (12) months after the term, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, solicit, hire or attempt to hire, or assist others in soliciting, hiring or attempting to hire, any individual employed by the Company at any time while the Executive was also so employed, or encourage any such individual to terminate his or her relationship with the Company; provided, however, that nothing in this Section 6(g) shall be deemed to prohibit Executive from: (A) making general solicitations of employment published in newspapers, trade journals or other publications of general circulation; or (B) employing individuals who have terminated their employment with the Company;
(iii) during the term hereof and for twelve (12) months after the term, the Executive will not, directly or indirectly, either as a principal, agent, employee, employer, stockholder, co-partner or in any other capacity whatsoever, engage in or undertake any planning for any activity which is competitive with the business of the Company, as conducted or under consideration at any time during his employment by the Company; provided that (A) an ownership interest by Executive of one percent (1%) or less in any outstanding equity securities of any company which is competitive with the business of the Company whose equity securities are listed on a national securities exchange, national or capital markets or traded in the over-the-counter bulletin board or (B) Executive’s employment by or otherwise association with a business or entity of which a subsidiary, division, segment, unit, etc. is in material direct competition with the Company or any parent corporation or subsidiary of the Company but as to which such subsidiary, division, segment, unit, etc. the Executive has no direct or indirect responsibility or involvement, so long as the Executive does not breach the confidentiality obligations hereunder, shall not be prohibited and shall not constitute activity which is competitive with the business of the Company.
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.
Non-Competition; Non-Solicitation (a) In consideration of this Agreement, the Executive agrees that, for the period ending one year after the termination of the Executive's employment with the Company by the Company for Cause or by the Executive without Good Reason (the "Non-Competition Period"), the Executive will not, directly or indirectly (whether as a sole proprietor, partner or venturer, stockholder, director, officer, employee, consultant or in any other capacity as principal or agent or through any Person, subsidiary or employee acting as nominee or agent):
(i) conduct or engage in or be interested in or associated with any Person which conducts or engages in the Triarco Business within the United States;
(ii) take any action, directly or indirectly, to finance, guarantee or provide any other material assistance to any Person engaged in the Triarco Business;
(iii) solicit, contact or accept business of any client or counterparty whom the Company served or conducted business with or whose name became known to the Executive as a potential client or counterparty while in the employ of the Company or during the Non-Competition Period; or
(iv) influence or attempt to influence any Person that is a contracting party with the Company at any time during the Non-Competition Period to terminate any written or oral agreement with the Company.
(b) The Executive shall neither, either on the Executive's own account or in conjunction with or on behalf of any other Person, solicit or entice away from the Company any officer, employee or customer of the Company during the term hereof or the Non-Competition Period nor engage, hire, employ, or induce the employment of any such Person whether or not such officer, employee or customer would commit a breach of contract by reason of leaving service or transferring business.
(c) The restrictive provisions hereof shall not prohibit the Executive from (i) having an equity interest in the securities of any entity engaged in the Triarco Business or any business with respect to which the Executive obtained confidential or proprietary data or information, which entity's securities are listed on a nationally-recognized securities exchange or quotation system or traded in the over-the-counter market, to the extent that such interest does not exceed 5% of the outstanding equity interests of such entity, (ii) investing as a passive investor in an entity engaging in the Triarco Business that is not so listed or traded, so long as such interest does not exceed 5% of the outstanding equity interests of such entity or (iii) with the prior written consent of the Company, serving as a director or other advisor to any other Person.
(d) The Executive agrees that the covenants contained in this Section 10 are reasonable covenants under the circumstances, and further agrees that if in the opinion of a court of competent jurisdiction, such restraint is not reasonable in any respect, such court shall have the right, power and authority to excise or modify such provision or provisions of these covenants which as to such court shall appear not reasonable and to enforce the remainder thereof as so amended.
Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Executive and the Company agree that the Company would suffer irreparable harm and incur substantial damage if Executive were to enter into Competition (as defined herein) with the Company. Therefore, in order for the Company to protect its legitimate business interests, Executive agrees as follows:
(i) Without the prior written consent of the Company, Executive shall not, during the period of employment with the Company, directly or indirectly, invest or engage in any business that is Competitive (as defined herein) with the Business of the Company or accept employment or render services to a Competitor (as defined herein) of the Company as a director, officer, agent, employee or consultant or solicit or attempt to solicit or accept business that is Competitive with the Business of the Company, except that Executive may own up to five percent (5%) of any outstanding class of securities of any company registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended; provided, however, the Company acknowledges that Executive currently engages in a number of activities set forth on Exhibit B as long as such permitted activities do not have a material adverse effect on the Executive’s performance or this Agreement.
(ii) Without the prior written consent of the Company and upon any termination of Executive’s employment with the Company and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, Executive shall not, either directly or indirectly, (x) invest or engage in any business that is Competitive (as defined herein) with the Business of the Company, except that Executive may own up to five percent (5%) of any outstanding class of securities of any company registered under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, (y) accept employment with or render services to a Competitor of the Company as a director, officer, agent, employee or consultant unless he is serving in a capacity that has no relationship to that portion of the Competitor’s business that is Competitive with the Business of the Company, or (z) solicit, attempt to solicit or accept business Competitive with the Business of the Company from any of the customers of the Company at the time of his termination or within twelve (12) months prior thereto or from any person or entity whose business the Company was soliciting at such time.
(iii) Upon termination of his employment with the Company, and for a period of twelve (12) months thereafter, Executive shall not, either directly or indirectly, engage, hire, employ or solicit in any manner whatsoever the employment of an employee of the Company.
(iv) For purposes of this Agreement, a business or activity is in “Competition” or “Competitive” with the Business of the Company if it involves, and a person or entity is a “Competitor”, if that person or entity is engaged in, or about to become engaged in, the research, development, design, manufacturing, marketing or selling of a specific product or technology that resembles, competes, or is designed to compete, with, or has applications similar to any product or technology for which the Company has obtained or applied for a patent or made disclosures, or any product or technology involving any other proprietary research or development engaged in or conducted by the Company during the Term of Executive’s employment with the Company.
Non-Compete, Non-Solicitation (a) In further consideration of the compensation to be paid to Executive hereunder, Executive acknowledges that in the course of his employment with the Company he has and shall become familiar with the Company’s and its subsidiaries’ trade secrets and with other Confidential Information and that his services shall be of special, unique and extraordinary value to the Company and its subsidiaries. Therefore, Executive has agreed that during the Employment Period and continuing for the later of (i) twelve (12) months after termination of the Employment Period and (ii) the period during which the Severance Payment, if any, is being paid pursuant to Section 2D(b) (the “Noncompete Period”), to not directly or indirectly own any interest in, manage, control, participate in, consult with, advise, render services for, or in any manner engage in the business of owning, operating, managing, any business that is competitive with the business which the Company or its subsidiaries conducts at the time the Employment Period is terminated. Nothing herein shall prohibit Executive from being a passive owner of not more than two percent (2%) of the outstanding stock of any class of a corporation which is publicly traded, so long as Executive has no active participation in the business of such corporation.
(b) During the Employment Period and continuing for the later of (i) twenty-four (24) months after termination of the Employment Period and (ii) the period during which the Severance Payment, if any, is being paid pursuant to Section 2D(b) (the “Nonsolicitation Period”), Executive shall not directly or indirectly through another entity (i) induce or attempt to induce any employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries to leave the employ of the Company or such subsidiary, (ii) hire any person who was an employee of the Company or any of its subsidiaries at any time during the twelve- (12) month period preceding such hiring; or (iii) induce or attempt to induce any material customer, supplier, licensee, licensor or other business relation of the Company, its subsidiaries to cease doing business with the Company or such subsidiary, other than in connection with ordinary course post-termination competitive activities undertaken as permitted in Section 3C(a).
Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation Because of the nature of the Company’s Business, and because, as a result of his employment with the Company, the Executive has been and will continue to be exposed to Confidential Information, the Executive acknowledges that the Company would sustain grievous harm in the event that he were to disclose Confidential Information, engage in business activities that compete with the Business, appropriate or divert business or customers of the Company or its affiliates and/or induce employees or consultants of the Company or its affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its affiliates. The Executive acknowledges that the Company has a legitimate business interest in protecting itself from the aforementioned harm and in the protection and maintenance of the Confidential Information and of the good will and customer relationships of the Company and its affiliates. Therefore, the Executive hereby agrees and covenants to be bound by the non-competition and non-solicitation restrictions set forth herein below, which restrictions the Executive agrees and acknowledges are reasonable and necessary and do not impose undue hardship or burdens on the Executive.
a. The Executive agrees that, during his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he and his affiliates shall not directly or indirectly own, manage, operate, control, be employed by, consult for, be a shareholder of, be an officer of, participate in, contract with or be connected in any capacity or any manner with any person or entity whose business activities directly or indirectly (whether through related persons, entities or otherwise) compete with the Business anywhere in the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, PROVIDED HOWEVER, that the Executive shall not be prevented from owning an interest in a publicly traded company so long as the fair market value of such interest at the date of acquisition is less than US$100,000.
b. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, for any reason, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly recruit, induce, divert, supervise, employ, manage, hire or entice, or cause to be recruited, induced, diverted, supervised, employed, managed, hired or enticed, any employee, consultant or independent contractor of the Company or its affiliates to leave or terminate the employment or other relationship thereof, for any reason.
c. The Executive agrees that during the period of his employment with the Company and for a period of three (3) years following the termination of his employment with the Company, he will not, within the United States, Canada and the People’s Republic of China, where the Company or its affiliates is engaged in the Business, directly or indirectly appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit, or assist another to appropriate, call on, induce, divert or solicit any actual or potential business or customer away from the Company or its affiliates, or attempt to do any of the foregoing, or otherwise induce or attempt to induce any actual or potential business or customer of the Company or its affiliates, to terminate or adversely modify its relationship with the Company or its affiliates, or to enter into a relationship with or conduct business with the Company or its affiliates, which actual or potential business or customer the Executive was involved with or had a relationship with or whose identity became known to the Executive in connection with the Executive’s employment with the Company.
d. If any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement is held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable (in whole or in part), such restrictive covenant shall be deemed modified to the extent, but only to the extent, of such invalidity, illegality or unenforceability, and a court of competent jurisdiction shall have the power to modify, any such restrictive covenant to the extent necessary to render such provision enforceable, and the remaining restrictive covenant shall not be affected thereby.
e. In the event of a violation of any of the restrictive covenants set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement, if the Executive is prevented by a court or arbitrator from committing any further violation, whether by a temporary restraining order, injunction or otherwise, the time periods set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement shall be computed by commencing the periods on the date of the applicable court or arbitrators’ order and continuing them from that date for the full period provided.
f. The Executive shall have the right to request a waiver of all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement by providing the Company with a written request for such a waiver that contains all relevant details. The Company may, in its sole discretion, waive all or part of the restrictive covenants contained in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement on such terms and conditions, and to such extent, as it, in its sole discretion, deems appropriate. Such waiver must be in writing.
g. The parties acknowledge that this Agreement would not have been entered into, that the benefits described in paragraphs 5, 6 and 7 would not have been promised to the Executive by the Company, in the absence of the Executive’s covenants and promises set forth in paragraphs 12(a), (b) and (c) of this Agreement.
