15Confidentiality (a) Subject to Section 7.15(c), during the Term and for a period of three (3) years thereafter, each party shall, and shall cause its and its Affiliates’ officers, directors, employees and agents to, keep confidential and not publish or otherwise disclose to any third party, directly or indirectly, any information that is, and the disclosing party has marked as, or has otherwise designated in writing to the receiving party as, “confidential trade secret,” “confidential commercial information” or “confidential financial information” (collectively, “Confidential Information”), except to the extent such disclosure is permitted by the terms of this Agreement.
(b) The confidentiality obligations under Section 7.15(a) shall not apply to any Confidential Information that (i) is or hereafter becomes part of the public domain by public use, publication, general knowledge or the like through no fault of the receiving party in breach of this Agreement, (ii) can be demonstrated by documentation or other competent proof to have been in the receiving party’s possession prior to disclosure by the disclosing party without any obligation of confidentiality with respect to such information, (iii) is subsequently received by the receiving party from a third party who is not bound by any obligation of confidentiality with respect to such information, (iv) has been published by a third party or otherwise enters the public domain through no fault of the receiving party, or (v) can be demonstrated by documentation or other competent evidence to have been independently developed by or for the receiving party without reference to the disclosing party’s Confidential Information.
(c) Each party shall have the right to disclose Confidential Information to the extent that such disclosure is (i) made in response to a valid order of a court of competent jurisdiction or, if in the reasonable opinion of the receiving party’s legal counsel, such disclosure is otherwise required by applicable law; provided, however, that the receiving party shall first have given notice to the disclosing party and given the disclosing party a reasonable opportunity to quash such order or to obtain a protective order or confidential treatment order requiring that the Confidential Information that is the subject of such order or other applicable law be held in confidence by such court or other third party recipient, unless the receiving party is not permitted to provide such notice under such order or applicable law, or (ii) made by the receiving party or any of its Affiliates to its or their attorneys, auditors, advisors, consultants, contractors or other third parties for use by such person or entity as may be necessary or useful in connection with the performance of the activities under this Agreement, provided that such third party is bound by confidentiality obligations at least as stringent as those set forth herein, either by written agreement or through professional responsibility standards.
Noncompetition and Confidentiality (a) The parties recognize that the employment of Executive with the Company has been and will continue to be special, unique and of an extraordinary character, and in connection with such employment Executive has and will continue to acquire special skill and training. The parties also recognize that the covenants of Executive contained in this Section 9 are an essential part of Executive’s engagement by the Company and that, but for the agreement of the Executive to comply with such covenants, the Company would not have entered into this Agreement. Executive accordingly agrees that, during the Term, (i) Executive shall not act or serve, directly or indirectly, as a principal, agent, independent contractor, consultant, director, officer, executive, employee or advisor or in any other position or capacity with or for, or acquire a direct or indirect ownership interest in or otherwise conduct (whether as stockholder, partner, investor, joint venturer, or as owner of any other type of interest), any Competing Business (defined below); provided, however, that this clause shall not prohibit the Executive from being the owner of (A) up to 5% of any class of outstanding securities of any entity if such class of securities is publicly traded or (B) any other securities owned by Executive on the date of this Agreement, and (ii) Executive shall not, in connection with or for the benefit of any person or entity engaged in the non-hazardous solid waste business, solicit, induce, divert or take away, any officer, employee or consultant of the Company.
(b) From the date hereof, Executive shall hold in secrecy for the Company all trade secrets and other confidential information relating to the business and affairs of the Company that have come or may have come to his attention during his employment with the Company, including information concerning costs, profits, markets, sales, business development plans, lists of clients or customers, lists of acquisition targets and other information about such acquisition targets and other information of a similar nature (such categories of information being referred to herein as “Confidential Information”). Executive shall not use for his own benefit or disclose to any person any Confidential Information other than in the ordinary course of the Company’s business or in response to a court order, unless such use or disclosure has the prior written authorization of the Company. Executive shall deliver to the Company, upon request, all correspondence, memoranda, notes, records, plans, customer lists, product compositions and other documents and all copies thereof, whether in hard copy form or electronically or magnetically stored, made, composed, or received by the Executive, solely or jointly with others, that are in the Executive’s possession, custody or control and that are related in any manner to the past, present or anticipated business of the Company.
(c) For the purposes of this Section 9, “Competing Business” shall mean an individual, business, corporation, association, firm, undertaking, partnership, joint venture, organization or other entity that operates non-hazardous solid waste landfills, non-hazardous solid waste collection businesses or similar facilities or businesses within a 50-mile radius of any of the landfills or similar facilities of the Company, Guarantor or any affiliate thereof.
(d) Should any portion of this Section 9 be deemed unenforceable because of the scope, duration or territory encompassed by the undertakings of the Executive hereunder, and only in such event, then the Executive and the Company consent and agree to such limitation on scope, duration or territory as may be finally adjudicated as enforceable by a court of competent jurisdiction after the exhaustion of all appeals.
(e) The covenants in this Section 9 shall be construed as an agreement ancillary to the other provisions of this Agreement, and the existence of any claim or cause of action of the Executive against the Company, whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, other than a claim or cause of action based on the Company’s failure to pay Executive amounts payable to Executive hereunder, shall not constitute a defense to the enforcement by the Company of this covenant.
(f) It is expressly recognized and agreed that the covenants set forth in this Section 9 are for the purpose of restricting the activities of the Executive only to the extent necessary for the protection of the legitimate business interests of the Company, and the Company and the Executive agree that said covenants are reasonable for that purpose and that such covenants do not and will not preclude Executive from engaging in activities sufficient for the purpose of earning a living.
Confidentiality/Nondisclosure 19.1 Neither Party will, without the prior written consent of the other Party (a) issue any public announcement regarding, or make any other disclosure of the terms of, this Agreement or use the name or marks of the other Party or its Affiliates; or (b) disclose or use (except as expressly permitted by, or required to achieve the purposes of, this Agreement) the Confidential Information of the other Party. Consent may only be given on behalf of a Party by its Legal Department. However, a Party may disclose Confidential Information if required to do so by a governmental agency, by operation of law, or if necessary in any proceeding to establish rights or obligations under this Agreement, provided that the disclosing Party gives the non-disclosing Party reasonable prior written notice and the receiving Party will cooperate with the disclosing Party to seek or take appropriate protective measures and will make such disclosure in a manner to best protect the Confidential Information from further disclosure. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if reporting or filing obligations or requirements are imposed upon Qwest by any third party or regulatory agency in connection with this Agreement, CLEC agrees to assist Qwest in complying with such obligations and requirements, as reasonably required by Qwest and to hold Qwest harmless for any failure by CLEC in this regard. Qwest’s compliance with any regulatory filing obligation will not constitute a violation of this section. Each Party will use reasonable efforts to protect the other’s Confidential Information, and will use at least the same efforts to protect such Confidential Information as the Party would use to protect its own.
19.2 All Confidential Information will remain the property of the disclosing Party. A Party who receives Confidential Information via an oral communication may request written confirmation that the material is Confidential Information. A Party who delivers Confidential Information via an oral communication may request written confirmation that the Party receiving the information understands that the material is Confidential Information. Each Party has the right to correct an inadvertent failure to identify information as Confidential Information by giving written notification within thirty (30) Days after the information is disclosed. The receiving Party will from that time forward, treat such information as Confidential Information.
19.3 Upon request by the disclosing Party, the receiving Party will return all tangible copies of Confidential Information, whether written, graphic or otherwise, except that the receiving Party may retain one copy for archival purposes.
19.4 Each Party will keep all of the other Party's Confidential Information confidential and will disclose it on a need to know basis only. Each Party will use the other Party's Confidential Information only in connection with this Agreement and in accordance with Applicable Law. Neither Party will use the other Party's Confidential Information for any other purpose except upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the Parties in writing. If either Party loses, or makes an unauthorized disclosure of, the other Party's Confidential Information, it will notify such other Party immediately and use reasonable efforts to retrieve the information.
Confidentiality (a) Subject to Section 7.15(c), during the Term and for a period of three
Non Competition Confidentiality 4.1 During the term of this Agreement, the Executive will offer to the Employer any investment or other opportunity generally in the business in which the Company operates, of which he may become aware. If after 30 days the Board of Directors of the Employer refuses the opportunity to participate in the investment or venture, the Executive may do so as permitted by Section 4.2 hereof and otherwise only if Executive obtains a consent to do so from a majority of the directors.
4.2 The Executive may make passive investments in companies involved in industries in which the Company operates, provided any such investment does not exceed a 5% equity interest, unless Executive obtains a consent to acquire an equity interest exceeding 5% by a vote of a majority of the directors.
4.3 Except as provided in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 hereof, the Executive may not participate in any business or other areas of business in which the Company is engaged during the term of this Agreement except through and on behalf of the Company.
4.4 During the term of this Agreement, the Executive shall not own, manage, operate, control, be employed by, participate in, or be connected in any manner with the ownership, management, operation or control of any business which is engaged in the type of business conducted by the Employer at the time this Agreement terminates. In the event of the Executive's actual or threatened breach of this paragraph, the Employer shall be entitled to a preliminary restraining order and injunction restraining the Executive from violating its provisions. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to prohibit the Employer from pursuing any other available remedies for such breach or threatened breach, including the recovery of damages from the Executive.
4.5 a. The Executive recognizes and acknowledges that the information, business, list of the Employer's customers and any other trade secret or other secret or confidential information relating to Employer's business as they may exist from time to time are valuable, special and unique assets of Employer's business. Therefore, Executive agrees as follows:
(1) That Executive will hold in strictest confidence and not disclose, reproduce, publish or use in any manner, whether during or subsequent to this employment, without the express authorization of the Board of Directors of the Employer, any information, business, customer lists, or any other secret or confidential matter relating to any aspect of the Employer's business, except as such disclosure or use may be required in connection with Executive's work for the Employer.
(2) That upon request or at the time of leaving the employ of the Employer the Executive will deliver to the Employer, and not keep or deliver to anyone else, any and all notes, memoranda, documents and, in general, any and all material relating to the Employer's business.
(3) That the Board of Directors of Employer may from time to time reasonably designate other subject matters requiring confidentiality and secrecy which shall be deemed to be covered by the terms of this Agreement.
