Gaithersburg, MD 20878
Exhibit 10.2
00 Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxx, Xxxxx 000
Xxxxxxxxxxxx, XX 00000
000.000.0000 Phone
000.000.0000 Direct
000.000.0000 Fax
xxx.xxxxxxx.xxx
April 6, 2022
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx 000 Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxxx, XX 00000
Re:Separation Agreement
Dear Xxxxxx:
This letter sets forth the substance of the separation agreement (the “Agreement”) which MaxCyte, Inc. (the “Company”) is offering to you to aid in your employment transition.
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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(including but not limited to your obligations during the Interim Period), the Company will provide you with the following severance benefits (the “Severance Benefits”):
(b) | Cash Severance. The Company will pay you, as severance, the equivalent of nine |
(9) months of your base salary in effect as of the Separation Date (the “Cash Severance”). The Cash Severance will be paid subject to standard payroll deductions and withholdings in roughly equal installments on the Company’s ordinary payroll dates, beginning with the first such date which occurs at least eight (8) days following the date the Consulting Agreement terminates for any reason, provided you have satisfied your obligations under this Agreement and the Consulting Agreement and the Company has received this executed Agreement from you on or before that date (and you have not revoked it). It is intended that the Cash Severance payable under this Agreement satisfy, to the greatest extent possible, the exemptions from the application of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (with state laws of similar effect, “Section 409A”), provided under Treasury Regulations 1.409A-1(b)(4), 1.409A-1(b)(5), and 1.409A-1(b)(9), and this Agreement will be construed to the greatest extent possible as consistent with those provisions. For purposes of Section 409A (including, without limitation, for purposes of Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-2(b)(2)(iii)), your right to receive any installment payments under this Agreement (whether separation payments, reimbursements or otherwise) shall be treated as a right to receive a series of separate payments and, accordingly, each installment payment hereunder shall at all times be considered a separate and distinct payment.
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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reimbursement. The Company will reimburse you for reasonable business expenses pursuant to its regular business practice.
C. If you have any doubts as to the scope of the restrictions in your agreement, you should contact Xxxxx Xxxxxx immediately to assess your compliance. As you know, the Company will enforce its contract rights. Please familiarize yourself with the enclosed agreement which you signed. Confidential information that is also a “trade secret,” as defined by law, may be disclosed (A) if it is made (i) in confidence to a federal, state, or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney and (ii) solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law; or (B) is made in a complaint or other document filed in a lawsuit or other proceeding, if such filing is made under seal. In addition, in the event that you file a lawsuit for retaliation by the Company for reporting a suspected violation of law, you may disclose the trade secret to your attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding, if you: (A) file any document containing the trade secret under seal; and (B) do not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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former Company employee. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement shall limit your right to voluntarily communicate with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United States Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the Securities and Exchange Commission, other federal government agency or similar state or local agency or to discuss the terms and conditions of your employment with others to the extent expressly permitted by Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. In addition, nothing in this Section or this Agreement is intended to prohibit or restrain you in any manner from making disclosures protected under the whistleblower provisions of federal or state law or regulation or other applicable law or regulation or as set forth in the Section of this Agreement entitled “Protected Rights.”
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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Agreement, including but not limited to: all such claims and demands directly or indirectly arising out of or in any way connected with your employment with the Company or the termination of that employment; claims or demands related to salary, bonuses, commissions, stock, stock options, or any other ownership interests in the Company, vacation pay, fringe benefits, expense reimbursements, severance pay, or any other form of compensation; claims pursuant to any federal, state or local law, statute, or cause of action; tort law; or contract law (individually a “Claim” and collectively “Claims”). The Claims you are releasing and waiving in this Agreement include, but are not limited to, any and all Claims that any of the Company Parties:
• | has violated its personnel policies, handbooks, contracts of employment, or covenants of good faith and fair dealing; |
• | has discriminated against you on the basis of age, race, color, sex (including sexual harassment), national origin, ancestry, disability, religion, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, source of income, entitlement to benefits, any union activities or other protected category in violation of any local, state or federal law, constitution, ordinance, or regulation, including but not limited to: the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, as amended (“ADEA”); Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; the Civil Rights Act of 1991; 42 U.S.C. § 1981, as amended; the Equal Pay Act; the Americans With Disabilities Act; the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act; the Family and Medical Leave Act; the Fair Employment Practice Act of Maryland, Md. Code Xxx., State Government, tit. 20; the Illinois Human Rights Act, as amended; the Illinois Equal Pay Act of 2003, as amended; the Illinois Equal Wage Act; the Illinois Wages for Women and Minors Act; the Illinois WARN Act; the Illinois Religious Freedom Restoration Act, as amended; the Illinois Minimum Wage Law, as amended; the Illinois Whistleblower Act; the Illinois Access to Personnel File Anti-Retaliation Law, as amended; the Illinois Arrest History Discrimination Law, the Illinois Nursing Mothers in the Workplace Act; the Illinois AIDS Confidentiality Act; the Illinois Emergency Services Leave Law; the Illinois Family Military Leave Law; the Illinois Genetic Testing Discrimination Law, as amended; the Illinois Victims' Economic Security and Safety Act; the Illinois Service Member's Employment Tenure Act; the Illinois Overtime Law; the Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act; the Illinois Abortion Performance Refusal Act; the Illinois Health and Safety Act; the Illinois Union Employee Health and Benefits Protection Act; the Illinois Employment Contract Act; the Illinois Labor Dispute Act; the Illinois Law on Break and Meal Periods; the Xxxx County Human Rights Ordinance, Ord. No. 93-0-13; the Employee Retirement Income Security Act; the Employee Polygraph Protection Act; the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act; the Older Workers Benefit Protection Act; the anti-retaliation provisions of the Xxxxxxxx-Xxxxx Act, or any other federal or state law regarding whistleblower retaliation; the Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx Fair Pay Act; the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act; the Fair Credit Reporting Act; and the National Labor Relations Act; |
• | has violated any statute, public policy or common law (including but not limited to Claims for retaliatory discharge; negligent hiring, retention or supervision; |
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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defamation; intentional or negligent infliction of emotional distress and/or mental anguish; intentional interference with contract; negligence; detrimental reliance; loss of consortium to you or any member of your family and/or promissory estoppel).
Notwithstanding the foregoing, other than events expressly contemplated by this Agreement you do not waive or release rights or Claims that may arise from events that occur after the date this waiver is executed and you are not releasing any right of indemnification you may have for any liabilities arising from your actions within the course and scope of your employment with the Company or within the course and scope of your role as a member of the Board of Directors and/or officer of the Company. Also excluded from this Agreement are any Claims which cannot be waived by law, including, without limitation, any rights you may have under applicable workers’ compensation laws and your right, if applicable, to file or participate in an investigative proceeding of any federal, state or local governmental agency. Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent you from filing, cooperating with, or participating in any proceeding or investigation before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, United States Department of Labor, the National Labor Relations Board, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the Securities and Exchange Commission or any other federal government agency, or similar state or local agency (“Government Agencies”), or exercising any rights pursuant to Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act. You further understand this Agreement does not limit your ability to voluntarily communicate with any Government Agencies or otherwise participate in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by any Government Agency, including providing documents or other information, without notice to the Company. While this Agreement does not limit your right to receive an award for information provided to the Securities and Exchange Commission, you understand and agree that you are otherwise waiving, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any and all rights you may have to individual relief based on any Claims that you have released and any rights you have waived by signing this Agreement. If any Claim is not subject to release, to the extent permitted by law, you waive any right or ability to be a class or collective action representative or to otherwise participate in any putative or certified class, collective or multi-party action or proceeding based on such a Claim in which any of the Company Parties is a party. This Agreement does not abrogate your existing rights under any Company benefit plan or any plan or agreement related to equity ownership in the Company; however, it does waive, release and forever discharge Claims existing as of the date you execute this Agreement pursuant to any such plan or agreement.
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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diseases. You acknowledge and affirm that you have not been retaliated against for reporting any allegation of corporate fraud or other wrongdoing by any of the Company Parties, or for exercising any rights protected by law, including any rights protected by the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family Medical Leave Act or any related statute or local leave or disability accommodation laws, or any applicable state workers’ compensation law. You further acknowledge and affirm that you have, as required by the ADEA and the Illinois Workplace Transparency Act, been advised by this writing that: (a) your waiver and release do not apply to any rights or Claims that may arise after the execution date of this Agreement; (b) you have been advised hereby that you have the right to consult with an attorney prior to executing this Agreement; (c) you have been given twenty-one (21) days to consider this Agreement (the “Consideration Period”) (although you may choose to voluntarily execute this Agreement earlier (but no earlier than the Separation Date) and if you do you will sign the Consideration Period waiver below); (d) you have seven (7) days following your execution of this Agreement to revoke this Agreement; and (e) this Agreement shall not be effective until the date upon which the revocation period has expired unexercised (the “Effective Date”), which shall be the eighth day after this Agreement is executed by you.
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
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constitute immediate and irreparable injury to the Company. You therefore agree that any such breach of this Agreement is a material breach of this Agreement, and, in addition to any and all other damages and remedies available to the Company upon your breach of this Agreement, the Company shall be entitled to an injunction to prevent you from violating or breaching this Agreement. The parties agree that if either party is successful in whole or part in any legal or equitable action to enforce this Agreement, then the enforcing party is entitled to recover from the other party all of the costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, incurred in enforcing the terms of this Agreement.
If this Agreement is acceptable to you, please sign below and return it to me on or before the date that is twenty-one (21) days after you receive this Agreement (but no earlier than the Separation Date). The Company’s severance offer contained herein will automatically expire if you do not sign and return the fully signed Agreement within this timeframe.
I wish you good luck in your future endeavors.
[signatures to follow on next page]
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx April 6, 2022
Page 10 of 10 Sincerely, MaxCyte, Inc.
By:
Xxxxx Xxxxxx General Counsel
Agreed to and Accepted:
Xxxxxx Xxxxxx
Date
Exhibit A – Consulting Agreement Exhibit B – Release Agreement
Exhibit C - Invention, Non-Disclosure and Non-Compete Agreement
CONSIDERATION PERIOD
I, Xxxxxx Xxxxxx, understand that I have the right to take at least 21 days to consider whether to
sign this Agreement, which I received on _______________2022. If I elect to sign this Agreement
before 21 days have passed, I understand I am to sign and date below this paragraph to confirm that I knowingly and voluntarily agree to waive the 21-day consideration period.
Agreed:
Signature
Date