EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
EXHIBIT 10.3
AGREEMENT
dated as of the 31st day of December, 2009, by and among Pharma-Bio Serv
PR, Inc., located at Street 1 Xxx 00, Xxxxxx Xxxxxxxxxx Xxxx, Xxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxx,
Xxxxxx Xxxx (“the Company”), and Xxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx, xxxxxxxx xx Xxxxxx, Xxxxxx
Xxxx 00000 (“Executive”).
WITNESSETH:
WHEREAS,
the Company has engaged Executive as its President of Puerto Rico Operations, in
charge of Scienza Labs, Integratek, Pharma Academy, and Pharma-Bio Serv PR, and
desires to continue to obtain the benefits of Executive’s knowledge, skills and
ability in connection with managing the operations of the Company, expanding and
managing significant client accounts and to continue to employ Executive on the
terms and conditions hereinafter set forth;
NOW, THEREFORE, in
consideration of the mutual promises set forth in this Agreement, the parties
agree as follows:
1.
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Employment and
Duties
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(a)
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Subject
to the terms and conditions hereinafter set forth, the Company hereby
employs Executive as President of Puerto Rico Operations, as hereinafter
defined. As President of Puerto Rico Operations, Executive
shall have the duties and responsibilities associated with the president
of a public corporation. Executive shall report to the
Company’s Chief Executive Officer. Executive shall also perform
such other duties and responsibilities as may be determined by such
officer, as long as such duties and responsibilities are consistent with
those of president.
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2.
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Executive’s
Performance
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(a)
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Executive
hereby accepts the employment contemplated by this Agreement. Executive
shall perform her duties diligently, in good faith and in a manner
consistent with the best interests of the Company, and shall devote
substantially all of her business time to the performance of her duties
under this Agreement.
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3.
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Compensation and Other
Benefits
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(a)
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For
her services, the Company shall pay Executive a salary (“Salary”) at the
annual rate of $175,000.00. Salary shall be paid in such installments as
the Company regularly pays its executive officers, but not less frequently
than semi-monthly.
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(b)
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In
addition to salary, Executive shall receive the following
benefits:
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(i)
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Such
insurance, including major medical health insurance and life insurance, as
the Company provides its executive officers, which benefits will not be
less than the insurance benefits provided by the Company to its executive
officers;
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(ii)
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Vacation
in accordance with Company policy;
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(iii)
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Eligibility
to participate in such pension and other benefit plans that are available
to executive officers of the
Company;
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(iv)
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Lease
payments for the automobile presently provided to Executive by the
Company; and
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(v)
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Such
discretionary bonuses and stock options or other equity-based incentives
as shall be determined by the Company’s compensation committee; provided,
however, that her bonus shall not exceed 50% of her salary and any such
bonus shall be paid within 30 days of the completion of the audit for the
year for which the bonus relates.
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4. Reimbursement of
Expenses
(a)
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The
Company shall reimburse Executive, upon presentation of proper expense
statements, for all authorized, ordinary and necessary out-of-pocket
expenses reasonably incurred by Executive in connection with the
performance of her services pursuant to this Agreement in accordance with
the Company’s expense reimbursement
policy.
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5.
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Termination of
Employment
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(a)
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This
Agreement and Executive’s employment hereunder shall terminate immediately
upon her death.
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(b)
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This
Agreement and Executive’s employment pursuant to this Agreement may be
terminated by the Executive or the Company on not less than 30 days’
written notice in the event of Executive’s Disability. The term
“Disability” shall mean any illness, disability or incapacity of the
Executive which prevents her from substantially performing her regular
duties for a period of two consecutive months or three months, even though
not consecutive, in any twelve month period; provided however, that any
maternity leave or other condition covered by the Puerto Rico labor laws
shall not be counted toward such three or two month
periods.
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(c)
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The
Company may terminate this Agreement and Executive’s employment pursuant
to this Agreement immediately for Cause, in which event no further
compensation shall be payable to Executive subsequent to the date of such
termination. The date of termination shall be the date of the notice from
the Company stating that Executive’s employment is terminated for Cause.
The term “Cause” shall mean:
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(i)
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repeated
failure of Executive to perform material instructions from the Board, or,
if Executive does not report to the Board, from the officer to whom
Executive reports, provided that such instructions are reasonable and
consistent with Executive’s duties as set forth in Section 1 of this
Agreement, or any other failure or refusal by Executive to perform her
duties required by said Section; provided, however, that Executive shall
have received notice from the Board or from the officer to whom Executive
reports, specifying the nature of such failure in reasonable detail and
Executive shall have failed to cure the failure within five business days
after receipt of such notice.
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(ii)
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a breach of Sections 6, 7 or 8 of this Agreement; | |
(iii)
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a breach of trust whereby Executive obtains personal gain or benefit at the expense of or to the detriment of the Company or any of its affiliates; |
(iv)
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any fraudulent or dishonest conduct by Executive or any other conduct by Executive which damages the Company or any of its affiliates or their property, business or reputation; |
(v)
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a
conviction of, or guilty plea or plea of nolo contendere by, of Executive
of (x) any felony or (y) any other crime involving fraud, theft,
embezzlement or use or possession of illegal substances;
or
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2
(vi)
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the admission by Executive of any matters set forth in Section 5(c)(v) of this Agreement. |
(d) Executive’s
resignation shall be treated in the same manner as a termination for
Cause.
(e) In
the event that the Company terminate this Agreement and Executive’s employment
other than for reasons set forth in Sections 5(a), 5(b)
or 5(c):
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(i)The
Company shall pay to Executive within 30 days after the date of her
termination an amount equal to her salary for the corresponding working
period;
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(ii)
The restrictions set forth in Section 7(a) of this Agreement shall
terminate immediately.
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6.
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Trade Secrets and
Proprietary Information
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(a)
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Executive
recognizes and acknowledges that the Company, through the expenditure of
considerable time and money, has developed and will continue to develop in
the future information concerning customers, clients, marketing, products,
services, business, research and development activities and operational
methods of the Company and its customers or clients, contracts, financial
or other data, technical data or any other confidential or proprietary
information possessed, owned or used by the Company, the disclosure of
which could or does have a material adverse effect on the Company, its
businesses, any business in which it proposes to engage, its operations,
financial condition or prospects and that the same are confidential and
proprietary and considered “confidential information” of the Company for
the purposes of this Agreement. In consideration of her employment,
Executive agrees that she will not, without the consent of the
Board make any disclosure of confidential information to any person,
partnership, corporation or entity either during or after employment with
the company, except that nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to
prohibit Executive from using or disclosing (a) if such disclosure is
necessary in the normal course of the Company’s business in accordance
with policies or instructions or authorization from the Board, (b)
Executive can demonstrate that such information shall have (i) become
public knowledge other than by or as a result of disclosure by a person
not having a right to make such disclosure, (ii) been developed by
Executive independent of any of the Company’s confidential or proprietary
information or (iii) been disclosed to Executive by a person not subject
to a confidentiality agreement with or other obligation of confidentiality
to the Company.
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(b)
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In
the event that any confidential information is required to be produced by
Executive pursuant to legal process, Executive shall give the Company
notice of such legal process within a reasonable time, but not later than
ten business days prior to the date such disclosure is to be made, unless
Executive has received less notice, in which event Executive shall
immediately notify the Company. The Company shall have the right to object
to any such disclosure, and if the Company objects (at the Company’s cost
and expense) in a timely manner so that Executive is not subject to
penalties for failure to make such disclosure, Executive shall not make
any disclosure until there has been a court determination on the Company’s
objections. If disclosure is required by a court order, final
beyond right of review, or if the Company does not object to the
disclosure, Executive shall make disclosure only to the extent that
disclosure is required by the court order, and Executive will exercise
reasonable efforts at the Company’s expense, to obtain reliable assurance
that confidential treatment will be accorded the Confidential
Information.
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(c)
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Executive
shall, upon expiration or termination of employment, or earlier at the
request of the Company, turn over to the Company or destroy all documents,
papers, computer disks or other material in Executive’s possession or
under Executive’s control which may contain or be derived from
confidential information. To the extent that any confidential information
is on Executive’s hard drive or other storage media, he shall, upon the
request of the Company, cause either such information to be erased from
her computer disks and all other storage media or otherwise take
reasonable steps to maintain the confidential nature of the
material.
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(d)
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Executive
further realizes that any trading in the Company’s common stock or other
securities or aiding or assisting others in trading in the Company’s
common stock or other securities, including disclosing any non-public
information concerning the Company to a person who uses such information
in trading in the Company’s common stock or other securities, constitutes
a violation of federal and state securities laws. Executive will not
engage in any transactions involving the Company’s common stock or other
securities while in the possession of material non-public
information.
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(e)
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For
the purposes of Sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 of this Agreement, the term
“Company” shall include PHARMA-BIO SERV PR, INC., and its subsidiaries and
affiliates.
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7.
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Covenant Not To
Solicit or Compete
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(a) During
the period from the date of this Agreement until two (2) years following
the date on which Executive’s employment is terminated, Executive will
not, directly or indirectly:
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(i)
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persuade
or attempt to persuade any person or entity which is or was a customer,
client or supplier of the Company to cease doing business with the
Company, or to reduce the amount of business it does with the Company (the
terms “customer” and “client” as used in this Section 7 to include any
potential customer or client to whom the Company submitted bids or
proposals, or with whom the Company conducted negotiations, during the
term of Executive’s employment hereunder or during the twelve months
preceding the termination of her
employment);
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(ii)
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solicit
for herself or any other person or entity other than the Company the
business of any person or entity which is a customer or client of the
Company, or was a customer or client of the Company within one (1) year
prior to the termination of her
employment;
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(iii)
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persuade
or attempt to persuade any employee of the Company, or any individual who
was an employee of the Company during the one (1) year period prior to the
lawful and proper termination of this Agreement, to leave the Company’s
employment, or to become employed by any person or entity other than the
Company; or
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(iv)
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engage
in any business in the United States whether as an officer, director,
consultant, partner, guarantor, principal, agent, employee, advisor or in
any manner, which directly competes with the business of the Company as it
is engaged in at the time of the termination of this Agreement, unless, at
the time of such termination or thereafter during the period that the
Executive is bound by the provisions of this Section 7, the Company ceases
to be engaged in such activity, provided, however, that nothing in this
Section 7 shall be construed to prohibit the Executive from owning an
interest of not more than five (5%) percent of any public Company engaged
in such activities.
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(b)
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Executive
will not, during or after employment with the Company, make any
disparaging statements concerning the Company, its business, officers,
directors and employees that could injure, impair, damage or otherwise
affect the relationship between the Company, on the one hand, and any of
the Company’s employees, suppliers, customers, clients or any other person
with which the Company has or may conduct business or otherwise have a
business relationship of any kind and description. The Company will not
make any disparaging statements concerning Executive; provided, however,
that this sentence shall not be construed to prohibit the Company from
giving factual information concerning Executive in response to inquiries
that the Company believes are bona
fide.
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(c)
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The
Executive acknowledges that the restrictive covenants (the “Restrictive
Covenants”) contained in Sections 6 and 7 of this Agreement are a
condition of her employment, and are reasonable and valid in geographical
and temporal scope and in all other respects. If any court determines that
any of the Restrictive Covenants, or any part of any of the Restrictive
Covenants, is invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of the Restrictive
Covenants and parts thereof shall not thereby be affected and shall remain
in full force and effect, without regard to the invalid portion. If any
court determines that any of the Restrictive Covenants, or any part
thereof, is invalid or unenforceable because of the geographic or temporal
scope of such provision, such court shall have the power to reduce the
geographic or temporal scope of such provision, as the case may be, and,
in its reduced form, such provision shall then be
enforceable.
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8.
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Inventions and
Discoveries - Executive agrees promptly to disclose in writing to
the Company any invention, design, system, process, development or other
discovery or intellectual property (collectively, “inventions and
discoveries”) conceived, created or made by her during employment with the
Company, whether created or developed by herself or with others, whether
during or after working hours, in any business in which the Company is
then engaged or which otherwise relates to any product or service dealt in
by the Company and such inventions and discoveries shall be the Company’s
sole property, regardless of whether such inventions and discoveries are
otherwise treated as work performed for hire and regardless of whether
such inventions and discoveries are or can be patented, registered or
copyrighted. Upon the Company’s request, Executive shall execute and
assign to the Company all applications for copyrights, trademarks and
letters patent of the United States and such foreign countries as the
Company may designate, and Executive shall execute and deliver to the
Company such other instruments as the Company deems necessary to vest in
the Company the sole ownership of all rights, title and interest in and to
such inventions and discoveries, as well as all copyrights and/or patents.
Executive shall also give the Company all assistance it may reasonably
require, including the giving of testimony in any suit, action,
investigation or other proceeding in connection with the
foregoing.
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9.
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Injunctive
Relief - Executive agrees that her violation or threatened
violation of any of the provisions of Sections 6, 7 or 8 of this Agreement
shall cause immediate and irreparable harm to the Company. In the event of
any breach or threatened breach of any of said provisions, Executive
consents to the entry of preliminary and permanent injunctions by a court
of competent jurisdiction prohibiting Executive from any violation or
threatened violation of such provisions and compelling Executive to comply
with such provisions. This Section 9 shall not affect or limit, and the
injunctive relief provided in this Section 9 shall be in addition to, any
other remedies available to the Company at law or in equity or in
arbitration for any such violation by Executive. In the event an
injunction is issued against any such violation by Executive, the period
referred to in Section 7 of this Agreement shall continue until the later
of the expiration of the period set forth therein or one (1) month from
the date a final judgment enforcing such provisions is entered and the
time for appeal has lapsed. Subject to Section 7(c) of this Agreement, the
provisions of Sections 6, 7, 8 and 9 of this Agreement shall survive any
termination of this Agreement and Executive’s
employment.
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10.
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Indemnification
- The Company shall provide Executive with payment of legal fees and
indemnification to the maximum extent permitted by the Company’s
certificate of incorporation, by-laws and applicable
law.
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11.
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Representations by the
Parties
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(a) Executive
represents, warrants, covenants and agrees that she has a right to enter
into this Agreement, that she is not a party to any agreement or
understanding, oral or written, which would prohibit performance of her
obligations under this Agreement, and that she will not use in the
performance of her obligations hereunder any proprietary information of
any other party which she is legally prohibited from
using.
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5
(b)
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The
Company represents warrants and agrees that it has full power and
authority to execute and deliver this Agreement and perform its
obligations hereunder.
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12.
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Miscellaneous
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(a)
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Executive
will cooperate with the Company in connection with the Company’s
application to obtain key-person life insurance on her life, on which the
Company will be the beneficiary. Such cooperation shall include
the execution of any applications or other documents requiring her
signature and submission of insurance applications and submission to a
physical.
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(b)
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Any
notice, consent or communication required under the provisions of this
Agreement shall be given in writing and sent or delivered by hand,
overnight courier or messenger service, against a signed receipt or
acknowledgment of receipt, or by registered or certified mail, return
receipt requested, or telecopier or similar means of communication if
receipt is acknowledged or if transmission is confirmed by mail as
provided in this Section 12(b), to the parties at their respective
addresses set forth at the beginning of this Agreement or by telecopier to
the Company fax at (000) 000-0000, or to Executive at available numbers,
with notice to the Company being sent to the attention of the individual
who executed this Agreement on its behalf. Any party may, by
like notice, change the person, address or fax number to which notice is
to be sent. If no telecopier number is provided for Executive,
notice to her shall not be sent by telecopier.
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(c)
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This Agreement shall in all respects be construed and interpreted in accordance with, and the rights of the parties shall be governed by, the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico applicable to contracts executed and to be performed wholly within such country, without regard to principles of conflicts of laws. |
(d)
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Except for actions, suits, or proceedings taken pursuant to or under Section 6, 7, 8 or 9 of this Agreement, any dispute concerning this Agreement or the rights of the parties hereunder shall be submitted to binding arbitration in San Xxxx, Puerto Rico before a single arbitrator jointly selected by the parties under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. If the parties shall be unable to agree upon an arbitrator, then each party shall designate one arbitrator and the two arbitrators shall select a third arbitrator. The award of the arbitrator shall be final, binding and conclusive on all parties, and judgment on such award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction. The arbitrator shall have the power, in his or her discretion, to award counsel fees and costs to the prevailing party. The arbitrator shall have no power to modify or amend any specific provision of this Agreement except as expressly provided in Section 12(f) of this Agreement. |
(e)
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Any claim for injunctive relief or other equitable remedy pursuant to Section 9 of this Agreement or any claim to enforce an arbitration award or to compel arbitration, the parties hereby (i) consents to the exclusive jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico courts located in San Xxxx, Puerto Rico, (ii) agree that any process in any action commenced in such court under this Agreement may be served upon it or her personally, either (x) by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested, or by Federal Express or other courier service which obtains evidence of delivery, with the same full force and effect as if personally served upon such party in San Xxxx, Puerto Rico, or (y) by any other method of service permitted by law, and (iii) waives any claim that the jurisdiction of any such court is not a convenient forum for any such action and any defense of lack of in personam jurisdiction with respect thereof. If an action may be commenced pursuant to this Section, the complaint may, notwithstanding Section 12(c) of this Agreement, include other claims against the other party, even if such claims would otherwise be subject to arbitration pursuant to said Section 12(c). |
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(f)
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If
any term, covenant or condition of this Agreement or the application
thereof to any party or circumstance shall, to any extent, be determined
to be invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement, or the
application of such term, covenant or condition to parties or
circumstances other than those as to which it is held invalid or
unenforceable, shall not be affected thereby and each term, covenant or
condition of this Agreement shall be valid and be enforced to the fullest
extent permitted by law, and any court or arbitrator having jurisdiction
may reduce the scope of any provision of this Agreement, including the
geographic and temporal restrictions set forth in Section 7 of this
Agreement, so that it complies with applicable
law.
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(g)
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This
Agreement constitute the entire agreement of the Company and Executive as
to the subject matter hereof, superseding all prior or contemporaneous
written or oral understandings or agreements, including any and all
previous employment agreements or understandings, all of which are hereby
terminated, with respect to the subject matter covered in this Agreement.
This Agreement may not be modified or amended, nor may any right be
waived, except by a writing which expressly refers to this Agreement,
states that it is intended to be a modification, amendment or waiver and
is signed by both parties in the case of a modification or amendment or by
the party granting the waiver. No course of conduct or dealing between the
parties and no custom or trade usage shall be relied upon to vary the
terms of this Agreement. The failure of a party to insist upon strict
adherence to any term of this Agreement on any occasion shall not be
considered a waiver or deprive that party of the right thereafter to
insist upon strict adherence to that term or any other term of this
Agreement.
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(h)
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No party shall have the right to assign or transfer any of its or her rights here under except that the Company’s rights and obligations may be assigned in connection with a merger of consolidation of the Company or a sale by the Company of all or substantially all of its business and assets. |
(i)
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This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of the parties hereto and their respective heirs, successors, executors, administrators and permitted assigns. |
(j)
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The headings in this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and shall not affect in any way the construction or interpretation of this Agreement. |
IN
WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date
first above written.
By:/s/ Xxxxxxxxx
Plaza
Name:Xxxxxxxxx
Plaza
Title:President
& “CEO”
EXECUTIVE: /s/
Xxxxxx Xxxxx
Xxxxxxxxx
Xxxxxx
Xxxxx Xxxxxxxxx