UDR, Inc. 1745 Shea Center Drive, Suite 200 Highlands Ranch, Colorado 80129
EXHIBIT 10.1
May 31, 2007
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx
00000 X. Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx, XX 00000
00000 X. Xxxxxxxx Xxxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx, XX 00000
Re: Separation of Employment from UDR, Inc.
Dear Les:
As we have discussed, your employment with UDR, Inc. (the “Company”) will end effective May 31,
2007 (the “Separation Date”). This letter (this “Letter Agreement”) reflects our agreement with
respect to the separation of your employment with the Company.
1. Last Day of Employment. Your last day of employment with the Company will be May 31,
2007.
2. Vacation Pay. You will be paid an amount equal to all accrued but unused vacation up to
May 31, 2007. You are entitled to payment of all accrued but unused vacation whether or not you
sign this Letter Agreement. You will not be entitled to use sick leave, salary continuation or
disability benefits after the Separation Date.
3. Consideration. In consideration for signing this Letter Agreement the Company agrees,
on the date that this Letter Agreement becomes effective or enforceable as set forth in Section 7
hereof:
(a) You will continue to be paid your base salary ($205,000 annually), less all required
withholdings, in accordance with the Company’s payroll policies, through December 31, 2007.
(b) You may continue to participate in the Company’s group health insurance plans at the same
coverage levels as immediately prior to the Separation Date. Coverage will continue through the
Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 until the first to occur of (i) three (3)
years from the Separation Date or (ii) your employment by a third party (a third party shall not be
deemed to include an entity of which all of the outstanding capital stock or ownership interests
are owned by you ) or (iii) you default in the payment of or no longer
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continue to pay your portion of the premiums (the “Severance Period”). During the Severance Period, the Company shall continue to pay its portion of the premiums and you will pay your portion of the premiums.
(c) Subject to approval by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors, to cause
4,469 unvested shares of the Company’s restricted common stock issued to you under the Company’s
1999 Long-Term Incentive Plan to vest as of the date this Letter Agreement becomes effective or
enforceable as set forth in Section 7 hereof.
4. Other Benefits. Except as provided explicitly in this Letter Agreement, you shall not
be entitled to any other or further benefits from Company, including, without limitation,
participation in health and dental insurance plans, disability and life insurance plans, stock
plans, 401(k) plans, and profit sharing plans.
5. Expenses. Your expense report for expenses incurred through the Separation Date must be
received within three business days after the Separation Date. You will be reimbursed for expenses
incurred through the Separation Date in accordance with ordinary Company reimbursement practices
and policies. If a final accounting of these new expenditures indicates that you owe the Company
any amount (e.g., for charges to Company accounts) after your expense reports have been processed,
you must pay such amount within three days after the Separation Date.
6. Company Property. You acknowledge that you have returned to the Company all proprietary
Company documents (including copies) and property which you may possess, including, but not limited
to, the following proprietary information of the Company: files, memoranda, notes,
computer-recorded information, personnel records (except copies of any agreements you may have
signed with the Company), equipment, materials, keys, entry cards, identification, credit cards,
and any other materials of any kind that embodies any confidential or proprietary information of
the Company (and all reproductions thereof).
7. Revocation. You understand that you have twenty-one (21) days to consider the
preclusive effect of this Letter Agreement prior to executing this Letter Agreement. You further
understand that you may revoke this Letter Agreement for a period of seven (7) days following your
execution of this Letter Agreement. Any revocation within this period must be submitted, in
writing, to: the Company, c/o W. Xxxx Xxxxxx, Senior Executive Vice President, and state, “I hereby
revoke my acceptance of the Letter Agreement.” The revocation must be mailed to the Company, c/o
W. Xxxx Xxxxxx, Senior Executive Vice President, or his designee, and postmarked within seven (7)
days of execution of this Letter Agreement. This Letter Agreement shall not become effective or
enforceable until the revocation period has expired. If the last day of the revocation period is a
Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in Colorado, then the revocation period shall not expire until
the next following day which is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday in Colorado.
8. General Release of Claim and Covenant Not to Xxx.
(a) In consideration of the benefits provided to you under this Letter Agreement, and except
for the obligations created by this Letter Agreement, you knowingly and voluntarily
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release and forever discharge the Company and its affiliates, as well as their respective
officers, directors, employees, stockholders, agents, attorneys, insurers, representatives, assigns
and successors, past and present, and each of them (hereinafter together and collectively referred
to as the “Released Parties”) of, with respect to and from any and all actions, and claims of any
kind, known and unknown, suspected or unsuspected, against the Released Parties, which you, your
heirs, executors, administrators, successors, and assigns (together and collectively “Executive”)
have or may have as of the date of execution of this Letter Agreement, including, but not limited
to, any alleged violation of:
The National Labor Relations Act, as amended;
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended;
Sections 1981 through 1988 of Title 42 of the United States Code, as amended;
The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended;
The Immigration Reform Control Act, as amended;
The Americans with Disability Act of 1990, as amended;
The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, as amended;
The Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended;
The Occupational Safety and Health Act, as amended;
The Equal Pay Act;
The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993;
all Colorado laws concerning the workplace;
any other federal, state or local civil or human rights law or any other local, state or federal
law, regulation or ordinance; based upon any covenant of good faith and fair dealing, implied or
express contract, wrongful discharge, promissory estoppel, equitable estoppel, employee benefit,
violation of public policy, negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation,
false light, compelled self-publication, fraud, misrepresentation, invasion of privacy, assault,
battery, tortious interference with a contract, tortious interference with a business relationship
or economic interest, negligent retention, negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligence,
negligent misrepresentation, gross negligence, loss of consortium, equity or any intentional or
other tort; and/or
(i) Arising out of the Released Parties’ personnel practices, policies, or procedures; and
(ii) Arising out of or relating to Executive’s employment or the initiation, existence or
cessation of Executive’s employment with the Released Parties, including any
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claims for salary, wages, severance pay, vacation pay, sick pay, bonuses, and any other
compensation or benefit of any nature; and
(iii) Arising out of any statements or representations to or about Executive; and
(iv) Arising out of any other wrong, injury or loss allegedly suffered by Executive; and
any allegation for costs, fees, or other expenses including attorneys’ fees incurred in these
matters (collectively the “Released Claims”).
You shall not xxx or initiate against the Released Parties any action or proceeding, or participate
in the same, individually or as a member of a class, under any contract (express or implied), or
any federal, state or local law, statute or regulation pertaining in any manner to the Released
Claims.
(b) Except for the obligations created by this Letter Agreement, the Released Parties hereby
covenant not to xxx and release and forever discharge you from any and all claims, known and
unknown, which the Release Parties have or may have against you, including all claims arising from
your position as Senior Vice President — Condominiums or as an employee of the Company or its
subsidiaries or affiliates and the termination of that relationship (and specifically including any
and all claims related to prior promises or contracts of employment), as of the date of this Letter
Agreement; provided, however, the Released Parties do not release you with respect to claims
arising out of or relating to fraud, gross negligence or willful misconduct.
(c) You will continue to be entitled to indemnification for the period during which you were
employed as an officer of the Company pursuant to the provisions of Section 7.1 of the Company’s
Amended and Restated Bylaws dated March 14, 2007.
9. No Claims Exist. You confirm that no claim, charge, complaint, or action exists
pertaining in any manner to the Released Claims in any forum or form. In the event that any such
claim, charge, complaint or action is filed, you shall not be entitled to recover any relief or
recovery therefrom, including costs and attorney’s fees.
10. Non-Disparagement. You agree not to make any negative, disparaging, disruptive or
damaging statements, comments or remarks to any third party concerning the Company and its
business. In response to inquiries about you from individuals inside or outside of the Company,
the Company’s official response shall be to provide our standard reference information of dates of
employment and title or that “Xx. Xxxxxxx resigned.”
11. Assistance. In partial consideration for your receipt of the benefits provided to you
by the Company under this Letter Agreement, to which you are not otherwise entitled, you agree to
provide reasonable assistance related to transition matters to the Company and/or its employees
through the Separation Date.
12. Confidentiality. You acknowledge that you have been exposed to and have learned a
substantial amount of information, which is proprietary and confidential to the Company,
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whether or not you developed or created such information. You acknowledge that such proprietary
and confidential information may include, but is not limited to, trade secrets; acquisition or
merger information; advertising and promotional programs; resource or developmental projects; plans
or strategies for future business development; financial or statistical data; customer information,
including, but not limited to, customer lists, sales records, account records, sales and marketing
programs, pricing matters, and strategies and reports; and any Company manuals, forms, techniques,
and other business procedures or methods, devices, computer software or matters of any kind
relating to or with respect to any confidential program or projects of the Company, or any other
information of a similar nature made available to you and not known in the trade in which the
Company is engaged, which, if misused or disclosed, could adversely affect the business or standing
of the Company (collectively, the “Confidential Information”). Confidential Information shall not
include information that is generally known or generally available to the public through no fault
of your own. You agree that except as required by court order, you will not at any time divulge to
any person, agency, institution, the Company or other entity any information which you know or has
reason to believe is proprietary or confidential to the Company, including but not limited to the
types of information described above, or use such information to the competitive disadvantage of
the Company. You agree that your duties and obligations under this Section 12 will continue until
the later of twelve (12) months after the Separation Date, or as long as the Confidential
Information remains proprietary or confidential to the Company.
13. Non-Solicitation. As further consideration for the benefits provided in this Letter
Agreement for a period terminating one (1) year from the Separation Date, you agree not to directly
or indirectly solicit for employment any person employed by the Company or its affiliates.
14. Joint Preparation of Agreement. This Letter Agreement is deemed to have been drafted
jointly by the parties. In any interpretation of this Letter Agreement, the provisions of this
Letter Agreement shall not be interpreted or construed against any party on the basis that the
party was the drafter.
15. Severability. If any provision of this Letter Agreement is determined to be invalid or
unenforceable, in whole or in part, such determination will not affect any other provision of this
Letter Agreement. For example, if the release of a particular claim is held by a court to be
invalid or unenforceable, such ruling will not affect the releases of any other claims.
16. Entire Agreement. This Letter Agreement contains the entire agreement between you and
the Company and is the complete, final and exclusive embodiment of our agreement with regard to the
subject matter. It is entered into without reliance on any promise or representation other than
those expressly contained herein, and it may not be modified except in writing signed by you and an
officer of the Company.
17. Governing Law. This Letter Agreement shall be governed by, and construed and enforced
in accordance with, the laws of the State of Colorado, as applied to contracts made and performed
entirely within the State of Colorado.
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Please sign and return this Letter Agreement to me, keeping a copy for yourself. Our sincerest
wishes in your future endeavors.
Sincerely,
| /s/ W. Xxxx Xxxxxx | ||||||||
| W. Xxxx Xxxxxx | ||||||||
| Senior Executive Vice President | ||||||||
| Accepted and Agreed: | ||||||||
Date:
|
May 31, 2007 | By: | /s/ Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx | |||||
| Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxxx | ||||||||
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