Reports to Government Entities Nothing in this Agreement restricts or prohibits the Participant from initiating communications directly with, responding to any inquiries from, providing testimony before, providing confidential information to, reporting possible violations of law or regulation to, or from filing a claim or assisting with an investigation directly with a self-regulatory authority or a government agency or entity, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Congress, and any agency Inspector General (collectively, the “Regulators”), or from making other disclosures that are protected under the whistleblower provisions of state or federal law or regulation. However, to the maximum extent permitted by law, the Participant hereby waives the Participant’s right to receive any individual monetary relief from the Entities resulting from such claims or conduct, regardless of whether the Participant or another party has filed them, and in the event the Participant obtains such monetary relief, the Entities will be entitled to an offset against the award underlying this Agreement. This Agreement does not limit the Participant’s right to receive an award from any Regulator that provides awards for providing information relating to a potential violation of law. The Participant does not need the prior authorization of the Company to engage in conduct protected by this Section, and the Participant does not need to notify the Company that the Participant has engaged in such conduct. The Participant is hereby notified that federal law provides criminal and civil immunity to federal and state claims for trade secret misappropriation to individuals who disclose a trade secret to their attorney, a court, or a government official in certain, confidential circumstances that are set forth at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1833(b)(1) and 1833(b)(2), related to the reporting or investigation of a suspected violation of the law, or in connection with a lawsuit for retaliation for reporting a suspected violation of the law. Pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, the Participant will not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of the trade secrets of any of the Entities that is made by the Participant (i) in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney, and solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law, or (ii) in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal.
