Competitive Activity (i) The Participant shall be deemed to have engaged in “Competitive Activity” if, during the period commencing on the date hereof and ending on the later of (x) the date that is 12 months after the date the Participant’s Employment with the Company and its Subsidiaries is terminated or (y) the maximum number of years of base salary the Participant is entitled to receive as severance under any agreement with, or plan or policy of the Company or an Affiliate (the “Restricted Period”), the Participant, whether on the Participant’s own behalf or on behalf of or in conjunction with any other person or entity, directly or indirectly violates any of the following prohibitions:
(A) During the Restricted Period, the Participant will not solicit or assist in soliciting in a Competitive Business (as defined below) the business of any client or prospective client:
(1) with whom the Participant had personal contact or dealings on behalf of the Company during the one-year period preceding the Participant’s termination of Employment;
(2) with whom employees directly reporting to the Participant (or the Participant’s direct reports) have had personal contact or dealings on behalf of the Company during the one year immediately preceding the Participant’s termination of Employment; or
(3) for whom the Participant had direct or indirect responsibility during the one year immediately preceding the Participant’s termination of Employment.
(B) During the Restricted Period, the Participant will not directly or indirectly:
(1) engage in any business that is engaged in, or has plans to engage in, at any time during the Restricted Period, any activity that competes in the business of manufacturing and marketing food products that directly compete with the core brands of the Company as of the Termination Date (and for such purpose, a “core brand” shall be any brand generating annual revenues in an amount equal to at least 5% of the Company’s annual revenues, in the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year of such Termination Date) in any geographical area that is within 100 miles from any geographical area where the Company or its Affiliates manufactures and markets its products or services (a “Competitive Business”);
(2) enter the employ of, or render any services to, any Person (or any division or controlled or controlling affiliate of any Person) who or which engages in a Competitive Business;
(3) acquire a financial interest in, or otherwise become actively involved with, any Competitive Business, directly or indirectly, as an individual, partner, shareholder, officer, director, principal, agent, trustee or consultant; or
(4) interfere with, or attempt to interfere with, business relationships (whether formed before, on or after the date of this Agreement) between the Company or any of its Affiliates and customers, clients, suppliers, partners, members or investors of the Company or its Affiliates.
(C) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, the Participant may, directly or indirectly own, solely as an investment, securities of any Person engaged in a Competitive Business which are publicly traded on a national or regional stock exchange or on the over-the-counter market if the Participant (i) is not a controlling person of, or a member of a group which controls, such person and (ii) does not, directly or indirectly, own 5% or more of any class of securities of such Person.
(D) During the Restricted Period, the Participant will not, whether on the Participant’s own behalf or on behalf of or in conjunction with any Person, directly or indirectly:
(1) solicit or encourage any employee of the Company or its Affiliates to leave the employment of the Company or its Affiliates; or
(2) hire any such employee who was employed by the Company or its Affiliates as of the date of the Participant’s termination of Employment with the Company or who left the employment of the Company or its Affiliates coincident with, or within 120 days (one year in the case of any such employee who reported directly to the Participant immediately preceding the Participant’s termination of Employment (or the Participant’s direct reports)) prior to or after, the termination of the Participant’s Employment with the Company.
(3) During the Restricted Period, the Participant will not, directly or indirectly, solicit or encourage to cease to work with the Company or its Affiliates any consultant then under contract with the Company or its Affiliates, is such action would result in the Company being disadvantaged. Any solicitation or hiring, that the Participant is not personally involved in, of an employee or former employee of the Company through general advertising shall not, of itself, be a breach of this Section 7(a)(i)(D)
(ii) It is expressly understood and agreed that although the Participant and the Company consider the restrictions contained in this Section 7 to be reasonable, if a final judicial determination is made by a court of competent jurisdiction that the time or territory or any other restriction contained in this Agreement is an unenforceable restriction against the Participant, the provisions of this Agreement shall not be rendered void but shall be deemed amended to apply as to such maximum time and territory and to such maximum extent as such court may judicially determine or indicate to be enforceable. Alternatively, if any court of competent jurisdiction finds that any restriction contained in this Agreement is unenforceable, and such restriction cannot be amended so as to make it enforceable, such finding shall not affect the enforceability of any of the other restrictions contained herein
(iii) The period of time during which the provisions of this Section 7 shall be in effect shall be extended by the length of time during which the Participant is in breach of the terms hereof as determined by any court of competent jurisdiction on the Company’s application for injunctive relief.
