Contract
Exhibit
10.7
Execution
Copy
THIS AGREEMENT is made as of
the 30th day of
June, 2008 by and between Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx (the “Employee”), a resident of the
Province of Ontario, and OccuLogix, Inc. (the “Employer”), a corporation
incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware, and having its executive
offices at 0000 Xxxxxxx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxxxx 0, Xxxxx 000, Xxxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxx, X0X
0X0.
WHEREAS, the Employer and the
Employee entered into an employment agreement dated as of August 1, 2004,
pursuant to which the Employee has been serving the Employer as its President
and Chief Operating Officer, which employment agreement was amended as of July
1, 2005 (as so amended, the “Employment
Agreement”);
AND WHEREAS, capitalized terms
used in this Agreement, but not otherwise defined, shall have the respective
meanings attributed to such terms in the Employment Agreement;
AND WHEREAS, the Employee and
the Employer mutually have agreed that the services of the Employee no longer
are required and, accordingly, have agreed to the termination of the Employee’s
employment with the Employer pursuant to Section 8.1.2 of the Employment
Agreement;
AND WHEREAS, the Employee and
the Employer hereby further acknowledge and agree that, pursuant to Section 9 of
the Employment Agreement, when the Employee’s employment under the Employment
Agreement has been terminated by the Employer for any reason other than Just
Cause pursuant to Section 8.1.2 of the Employment Agreement, the Employee is
entitled to receive from the Employer, in addition to accrued but unpaid salary,
if any, a lump sum payment equal to 24 months’ of his Basic Salary and Bonus and
2.5% of his Basic Salary in respect of his entitlement to Benefits plus
U.S.$100,000, less any amounts payable to the Employee in lieu of notice where a
Stop Work Notice has been given pursuant to Section 8.2 of the Employment
Agreement and any amounts owing by the Employee to the Employer for any
reason;
AND WHEREAS, the Employee has
not been given a Stop Work Notice pursuant to Section 8.2 of the Employment
Agreement;
AND WHEREAS, each of the
Employee and the Employer agrees that it would not be in the bests interests of
either of them to obligate the Employer to pay immediately the amount payable to
the Employee pursuant to Section 9 of the Employment Agreement upon the
termination of the Employee’s employment with the Employer pursuant to Section
8.1.2 of the Employment Agreement;
AND WHEREAS, between February
1, 2008 and April 30, 2008 inclusive, the Employee worked for the Employer at
50% of his Basic Salary;
AND WHEREAS, between May 1,
2008 and the Termination Date inclusive, the Employee worked for the Employer on
a part-time basis, for which he was paid a salary of Cdn$5,000 per
month;
AND WHEREAS, the Employment
Agreement is further amended by this Agreement;
AND WHEREAS, the Employee has
been granted an aggregate of 420,000 time-based stock options (the “Stock Options”) pursuant to
the Employer’s 2002 Stock Option Plan, as amended (the “Stock Option
Plan”);
AND WHEREAS, notwithstanding
the proposed termination of the Employee’s employment with the Employer and
subject to the Employer obtaining the requisite approval of its stockholders
therefor, the Compensation Committee of the Employer’s board of directors and
the Employer’s board of directors have approved the extension of the term of the
Stock Options to the tenth anniversaries of their respective dates of
grant;
NOW, THEREFORE, in
consideration of the mutual promises and covenants contained in this Agreement
(the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged by the parties
hereto), the parties hereto agree as follows:
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1.
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TERMINATION
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1.1 The
Employee and the Employer hereby agree that the Employee’s employment with the
Employer is terminated pursuant to Section 8.1.2 of the Employment Agreement,
effective at the close of business on the date hereof (the “Termination
Date”). The Employer shall pay the Employee, on the next
regularly scheduled payday, all accrued (to and including the Termination Date)
but unpaid salary. For greater certainty, the Employee hereby waives
the requirement, under Section 8.1.3 of the Employment Agreement, to provide 24
months’ prior written notice to the Employee of the Employer’s intention to
terminate his employment with the Employer.
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2.
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RETURN
OF PROPERTY
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2.1 The
Employee hereby certifies that he has returned to the Employer all property of
the Employer in the Employee’s possession, including, without limitation, all
keys, business cards, computer hardware, including, without limitation,
Blackberry units, printers, mice and other hardware accessories, and computer
software. The Employee hereby further certifies that he has returned
to the Employer, or destroyed, all tangible material embodying Confidential
Information in any form whatsoever, including, without limitation, all paper
copy copies, summaries and excerpts of Confidential Information and all
electronic media or records containing or derived from Confidential
Information.
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3.
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SEVERANCE
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3.1 The
Employee and the Employer hereby agree that, notwithstanding Section 9 of the
Employment Agreement, for reason of the termination of the Employee’s employment
with the Employer pursuant to Section 8.1.2 of the Employment Agreement and
effected by this Agreement, the Employee shall be entitled to receive from the
Employer an amount equal to: (i) 24 months’ of his Basic Salary and
Bonus and 2.5% of his Basic Salary in respect of his entitlement to Benefits;
plus (ii)
U.S.$100,000; minus (iii)
Cdn$8,568.29, being the aggregate amount that the Employer disbursed in 2008, on
the Employee’s behalf, for club memberships (the “Employee’s
Severance”). The Employee and the Employer hereby further
agree that the Employee’s Severance shall not be paid to him on the Termination
Date but, rather, in accordance with the provisions of this Article
3. For clarity, for purposes of calculating the Employee’s Severance,
“Basic Salary” shall mean the amount of the Employee’s Basic Salary on January
31, 2008.
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3.2 Subject
to Section 3.4, on the earliest to occur of (i) September 1, 2008, (ii) the date
on which the Employer closes a financing for total gross proceeds in an
aggregate amount of at least U.S.$5,000,000, whether by way of debt, equity or
otherwise, and whether such financing is effected in a single transaction or a
series of related or unrelated transactions, and (iii) a Change of Control
(defined below), the Employer shall pay the Employee, in a lump sum, the
Employee’s Severance. “Change of Control” shall be
deemed to have occurred when: (a) any Person, other than a Person or
a combination of Persons presently owning, directly or indirectly, more than 20%
of the issued and outstanding voting securities of the Employer, acquires or
becomes the beneficial owner of, or a combination of Persons acting jointly and
in concert acquires or becomes the beneficial owner of, directly or indirectly,
more than 50% of the voting securities of the Employer, whether through the
acquisition of previously issued and outstanding voting securities or of voting
securities that have not been previously issued, or any combination thereof, or
any other transaction having a similar effect; (b) the Employer merges with one
or more corporations, including, without limitation, any Subsidiary or Affiliate
of the Employer; (c) the Employer sells, leases or otherwise disposes of all or
substantially all of its assets and undertaking, whether pursuant to one or more
transactions; (d) any Person not part of existing management of the Employer or
any Person not controlled by existing management of the Employer enters into any
arrangement to provide management services to the Employer which results in
either (Y) the termination by the Employer, for any reason other than Just
Cause, of the employment of any two of the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer,
President and Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and General
Counsel within three months of the date such arrangement is entered into or (Z)
the termination by the Employer, for any reason other than Just Cause, of the
employment of all such senior executive personnel within six months of the date
that such arrangement is entered into; or (e) the Employer enters into any
transaction or arrangement which would have the same, or similar, effect as the
transactions referred to in (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this sentence.
3.3 At
the sole discretion of the Employer, and subject to the provisions of this
Section 3.3 and Section 3.4, and subject further to the Employer obtaining all
requisite corporate approval therefor (including, without limitation, the
approval of the Employer’s stockholders, if required), the Employer may satisfy
and discharge in full its obligation under Section 3.2 to pay the Employee’s
Severance as follows: (i) with respect to some percentage of the
Employee’s Severance determined by the Employer in its sole discretion, but in
any event not to exceed 50%, by issuing to the Employee stock options under the
Stock Option Plan in a number calculated in accordance with the methodology
described under the heading “Proposal IX” in the preliminary proxy statement
filed by the Employer with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May
20, 2008 (collectively, the “Severance Stock Options”);
and (ii) with respect to the balance of the Employee’s Severance, by paying it
in cash. The Severance Stock Options shall have a term of ten years
commencing on the date of their grant and will be exercisable immediately upon
grant. The exercise price of the Severance Stock Options shall be
determined by the Employer’s board of directors in accordance with the
provisions of the Stock Option Plan and all applicable laws, regulations and
rules (including, without limitation, the rules of the Toronto Stock
Exchange).
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3.4 If
any petition should be filed by or against the Employer for liquidation or
reorganization, or should the Employer become insolvent or make an assignment
for the benefit of any creditor or creditors, or should a receiver or trustee be
appointed for all or any significant part of the Employer’s assets, or should
the Employer consent to the winding-up, liquidation or dissolution of itself or
its affairs, then the Employee’s Severance shall become due and payable, in
cash, immediately to the Employee.
3.5 The
Employer hereby agrees that, in the event that any of Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, Nozhat
Xxxxxxx, Xxxx Xxxxxxx, Xxxx Dumencu, Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx, Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxx
Xxxxxx, Xxx Xxx, Xxxxxxx Xxxxx or Xxxxxxx Xxxxxxx (each, an “OLT Member”) should become
entitled to receive severance pursuant to his or her executive employment
agreement at any time before the Employer has paid, in full, the amount due and
payable to the Employee pursuant to Section 3.2 or 3.4, as the case may be, the
Employer shall not pay any OLT Member a percentage of his or her severance
entitlement (without regard to applicable deductions and withholdings) that
exceeds the percentage of the Employee’s Severance paid to the Employee (without
regard to applicable deductions and withholdings). For greater
certainty, for purposes of calculating such percentage in a circumstance in
which the Employer has exercised its discretion pursuant to Section 3.3 and has
issued Severance Stock Options, then the aggregate amount paid to the Employee
pursuant to Section 3.2 shall be the sum of (i) the value of such Severance
Stock Options, as determined by the Employer using the Black-Scholes valuation
method, and (ii) the amount of the Employee’s Severance paid in
cash.
3.6 For
greater certainty, all amounts due and payable by the Employer to the Employee
pursuant to this Article 3 shall be paid, net of applicable deductions and
withholdings.
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4.
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STOCK
OPTIONS
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4.1 Notwithstanding
the termination hereunder of the Employee’s employment with the Employer but
subject to the Employer obtaining the requisite approval of its stockholders
therefor in accordance with the provisions of the Stock Option Plan and all
applicable laws, regulations and rules (including, without limitation, the rules
of the Toronto Stock Exchange) (the “Requisite Stockholder
Approval”), the term of the Stock Options shall be extended to, and the
Stock Options shall remain exercisable until, the tenth anniversaries of their
respective dates of grant, being (i) December 16, 2014 for 300,000 of the Stock
Options, (ii) March 10, 2017 for 20,000 of the Stock Options and (ii) July 3,
2017 for 100,000 of the Stock Options. Such term extension shall
become effective on the date on which the Requisite Stockholder Approval is
obtained, if ever, and all of the agreements pursuant to which the Stock Options
were granted shall be deemed to be amended accordingly on the date on which the
Requisite Stockholder Approval is obtained, if ever.
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4.2 The
Employer shall use commercially reasonable efforts to obtain the Requisite
Stockholder Approval, which covenant shall terminate and become null and void,
and be of no more force or effect, upon the earlier to occur of (i) the date on
which a meeting of the Employer’s stockholders may be convened to obtain the
Requisite Stockholder Approval and (ii) September 30, 2008.
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5.
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RELEASE
AND TERMINATION
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5.1 The
Employee hereby agrees, on behalf of himself and his administrators, heirs,
assigns and anyone claiming through him, to release completely and forever
discharge the Employer and its affiliates and subsidiaries, and their respective
officers, directors, shareholders, agents, servants, representatives,
underwriters, successors, heirs and assigns, from any and all claims, demands,
obligations and causes of action, of any nature whatsoever, whether known or
unknown, which the Employee ever had, now has or might have in the future as a
result of the Employee’s employment with the Employer or the termination thereof
hereunder, including, without limitation, any claim relating to the Employment
Agreement or the termination thereof hereunder or any claim relating to any
violation of any Canadian federal or provincial statute or regulation, any claim
for wrongful discharge or breach of contract or any claim relating to Canadian
federal or provincial laws (including, without limitation, the Employment Standards Act
(Ontario) and the Ontario Human Rights Code), provided, however,
that such release and discharge shall be effective only upon the payment in full
by the Employer of the Employee’s Severance pursuant to Article
3. For greater certainty, the release and discharge by the Employee
pursuant to this Section 5.1 shall have no force or effect whatsoever until such
time, if ever, that the Severance Balance is paid in full by the Employer to the
Employee. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein shall be
construed as depriving the Employee of any indemnification rights to which he is
entitled under the Amended and Restated By-laws of the Employer on or prior to
the Termination Date or of any protection to which he may be entitled, on, prior
to or after the Termination Date, under the Employer’s directors’ and officers’
liability insurance policy from time to time.
5.2 Section
12 of the Employment Agreement (Non-Competition) is hereby amended by replacing,
in the first paragraph thereof, the words “which is the same as or substantially
similar to or which competes with or would compete with the business carried on
during the Employment Period or at the end thereof, as the case may be, by the
Corporation or any of its Subsidiaries.” with the words “(i) the Corporation’s
RHEO business and/or (ii) the business of OcuSense, Inc., as each of them was
carried on during the Employment Period.”.
5.3 The
Employment Agreement is hereby terminated and rendered null and void, save and
except for those provisions thereof that are expressly stated to survive the
termination thereof, including, without limitation, Section 12
(Non-Competition), as amended by Section 5.2 of this Agreement, and Sections 13
(No Solicitation of Patients), 14 (No Solicitation of Employees) 15
(Confidentiality) and 16 (Remedies). The Employee hereby agrees to
abide by such provisions, including, for greater certainty, Section 12 of the
Employment Agreement (Non-Competition), as amended by Section 5.2 of this
Agreement.
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6.
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FUTURE
EMPLOYMENT
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6.1 The
mitigation by the Employee of any damages or losses arising from the termination
hereunder of his employment with the Employer and the termination of the
Employment Agreement hereunder (including, without limitation, by obtaining
other employment) shall not, in any way, derogate from, or otherwise affect, the
Employee’s rights or the Employer’s obligations under this
Agreement. For greater certainty, and without derogating from the
generality of the foregoing statement, no amount to be paid by the Employer
under this Agreement shall be reduced by any compensation earned by the Employee
as a result of employment by another employer or otherwise after the Termination
Date.
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7.
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THIRD
PARTY COMMUNICATIONS
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7.1 In
consideration of the mutual promises and covenants contained herein, each of the
parties hereto hereby agrees that he and it will not make any statements to, or
initiate or participate in any discussions with, any other person, including,
without limitation, the Employer’s customers, which are derogatory, disparaging
or injurious to the reputation of the Employee or the Employer. This
Section 7.1, in no way, shall be construed as prohibiting either party hereto
from responding truthfully to any question or interrogatory to which such party
is requested to respond.
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8.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
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8.1 The
Employee hereby acknowledges that:
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(a)
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He
has had sufficient time to review and consider this Agreement
thoroughly;
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(b)
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He
has read and understands the terms of this Agreement and his obligations
hereunder;
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(c)
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He
has been given an opportunity to obtain independent legal advice, or such
other advice as he may desire, concerning the interpretation and effect of
this Agreement; and
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(d)
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He
is entering this Agreement voluntarily and without any pressure from the
Employer.
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9.
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MISCELLANEOUS
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9.1 The
headings in this Agreement are included solely for convenience of reference and
shall not affect the construction or interpretation hereof.
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9.2 The
parties hereto expressly agree that nothing in this Agreement shall be construed
as an admission of liability.
9.3 This
Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the parties hereto
and their respective heirs, trustees, administrators, successors and
assigns.
9.4 This
Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties hereto pertaining
to the subject matter of the termination of the Employee’s employment with the
Employer. This Agreement supersedes and replaces all prior
agreements, if any, written or oral, with respect to such subject matter and any
rights which the Employee may have by reason of any such prior agreements or by
reason of the Employee’s employment with the Employer. There are no
representations, warranties or agreements between the parties hereto in
connection with the subject matter of this Agreement, except as specifically set
forth in this Agreement. No reliance is placed on any representation,
opinion, advice or assertion of fact made by the Employer or any of its
officers, directors, agents or employees to the Employee, except to the extent
that the same has been reduced to writing and included as a term of this
Agreement. Accordingly, there shall be no liability, either in tort
or in contract, assessed in relation to any such representation, opinion, advice
or assertion of fact, except to the extent aforesaid.
9.5 Each
of the provisions contained in this Agreement is distinct and severable, and a
declaration of invalidity or unenforceability of any provision or part thereof
by a court of competent jurisdiction shall not affect the validity or
enforceability of any other provision hereof.
9.6 This
Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of
the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable
therein.
9.7 This
Agreement may be signed in counterparts and delivered by facsimile transmission
or other electronic means, and each of such counterparts shall constitute an
original document, and such counterparts, taken together, shall constitute one
and the same instrument.
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REMAINDER OF THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK]
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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the
parties have executed this Agreement as of the date set forth
above.
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By:
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/s/
Xxx Xxx
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Xxx
Xxx
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General
Counsel
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/s/
Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx
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Signature
of Witness
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Xxxxxx
X. Xxxxxx
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Name
of Witness (please
print)
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