EXHIBIT 10.3
EMPLOYMENT AND NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT
This Employment and Non-Competition Agreement (the "Agreement"), effective
as of January 1, 1997, is by and among HAM Marine, Inc., a Mississippi
corporation (the "Company"), and _______________ ("Employee").
WHEREAS, the Company desires to engage Employee and Employee desires to
accept such engagement;
Therefore, in consideration of the mutual promises, terms, covenants and
conditions set forth herein and the performance of each, it is hereby agreed as
follows:
1. Employment and Duties.
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(a) The Company hereby employs Employee as _________________. As such,
Employee shall have responsibilities, duties and authority commensurate with
such position and as may be assigned to him by the Company from time to time
during the term of this Agreement. Employee will report to the Board of
Directors of Company. Employee hereby accepts this employment upon the terms
and conditions herein contained and agrees to devote his time, attention and
best efforts to promote and further the business of the Company.
(b) Employee shall faithfully adhere to, execute and fulfill all policies
established by the Company.
(c) Employee shall not, during the term of his employment hereunder, be
engaged in any other business activity pursued for gain, profit or other
pecuniary advantage if such activity interferes with Employee's duties and
responsibilities hereunder. However, the foregoing limitations shall not be
construed as prohibiting Employee from making personal investments in such form
or manner as will neither require his services in the operation or affairs of
the enterprises in which such investments are made nor violate the terms of
paragraph 3 hereof.
2. Compensation. For all services rendered by Employee, the Company
shall compensate Employee as follows:
(a) Base Salary. Beginning on the date of this Agreement, the base salary
payable to Employee shall be $_________________ per year, payable on a regular
basis in accordance with the Company's standard payroll procedures. On at least
an annual basis, the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of the
Company (the "Committee") will review Employee's performance and may recommend
increases to such base salary if, in the Committee's discretion, any such
increase is warranted.
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(b) Executive Perquisites, Benefits and Other Compensation. Employee
shall be entitled to receive additional benefits and compensation from the
Company in such form and to such extent as specified below:
(1) Reimbursement for all business travel and other out-of-pocket expenses
(including those costs to maintain any professional certifications held or
obtained by Employee) reasonably incurred by Employee in the performance of
his services pursuant to this Agreement. All reimbursable expenses shall
be appropriately documented in reasonable detail by Employee upon
submission of any request for reimbursement and in a format and manner
consistent with the Company's expense reporting policy.
(2) Two (2) weeks of paid vacation or such greater amount as may be
afforded officers and key employees at similar levels under the Company's
policies in effect from time to time.
(3) The Company shall provide Employee with other executive perquisites as
may be available to or deemed appropriate for Employee by the Board or the
Committee and participation in all other Company-wide employee benefits as
may be adopted from time to time by the Company.
3. Non-Competition Agreement.
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(a) Employee recognizes that the Company's willingness to enter into the
Stock Exchange Agreement and to consummate the Exchange is based in material
part on Employee's agreement to the provisions of this paragraph 3, and that
Employee's breach of the provisions of this paragraph could materially damage
the Company. Therefore, in consideration of the benefits to be received by
Employee as a result of the Exchange, Employee agrees that the Employee shall
not, for a period of two (2) years immediately following the consummation of the
Exchange, for any reason whatsoever, directly or indirectly, for himself or on
behalf of or in conjunction with any other person, persons, company,
partnership, corporation or business of whatever nature:
(1) engage, as an officer, director, shareholder, owner, partner,
joint venturer, or in a managerial capacity, whether as an employee,
independent contractor, consultant or advisor, or as a sales
representative, in any business selling any products or services in direct
competition with the Company or any of the Company's affiliates within 100
miles of where the Company or any of the Company's affiliates conducts
business (the "Territory");
(2) call upon any person who is a managerial employee of the Company
(including its affiliates) for the purpose or with the intent of enticing
such employee away from or out of the employ of the Company (including its
affiliates); or
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(3) call upon any person or entity which is a customer of the Company
(including its affiliates) within the Territory for the purpose of
soliciting or selling products or services in direct competition with the
Company within the Territory.
(b) Because of the difficulty of measuring economic losses to the Company
as a result of a breach of the foregoing covenant, and because of the immediate
and irreparable damage that could be caused to the Company for which it would
have no other adequate remedy, Employee agrees that the foregoing covenant may
be enforced by the Company in the event of breach by him, by injunctions and
restraining orders.
(c) The covenants in this paragraph 3 are severable and separate, and the
unenforceability of any specific covenant shall not affect the provisions of any
other covenant. Moreover, in the event any court of competent jurisdiction
shall determine that the scope, time or territorial restrictions set forth in
this paragraph 3 are unreasonable, then it is the intention of the parties that
such restrictions be enforced to the fullest extent which the court deems
reasonable, and this Agreement shall thereby be reformed.
(d) Each of the covenants in this paragraph 3 shall be construed as an
agreement independent of any other provision in this Agreement, and the
existence of any claim or cause of action of Employee against the Company,
whether predicated on this Agreement or otherwise, shall not constitute a
defense to the enforcement by the Company of such covenants.
4. Term; Termination; Rights on Termination. The term of this Agreement
shall begin on the date hereof and continue for one (1) year (the "Initial
Term"), and, unless terminated sooner as herein provided, shall continue
thereafter on a year-to-year basis on the same terms and conditions contained
herein. This Agreement and Employee's employment may be terminated in any one
of the followings ways:
(a) Death. The death of Employee shall immediately terminate this
Agreement with no severance compensation due to Employee's estate.
(b) Disability. If, as a result of incapacity due to physical or mental
illness or injury, Employee shall have been absent from his full-time duties
hereunder for four (4) consecutive months, then thirty (30) days after receiving
written notice (which notice may occur before or after the end of such four (4)
month period, but which shall not be effective earlier than the last day of such
four (4) month period), the Company may terminate Employee's employment
hereunder provided Employee is unable to resume his full-time duties at the
conclusion of such notice period. Also, Employee may terminate his employment
hereunder if his health should become impaired to an extent that makes the
continued performance of his duties hereunder hazardous to his physical or
mental health or his life, provided that Employee shall have furnished the
Company with a written statement from a qualified doctor to such effect and
provided, further, that, at the Company's request made within thirty (30) days
of the date of such written statement, Employee shall submit to an examination
by a doctor selected by the Company who is reasonably acceptable to Employee or
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Employee's doctor and such doctor shall have concurred in the conclusion of
Employee's doctor. In the event this Agreement is terminated as a result of
Employee's disability, Employee shall receive from the Company, in a lump-sum
payment due within ten (10) days of the effective date of termination, the base
salary at the rate then in effect for whatever time period is remaining under
the Initial Term of this Agreement or for six (6) months, whichever amount is
greater.
(c) Good Cause. The Company may terminate this Agreement ten (10) days
after written notice to Employee for good cause, which shall be: (1) Employee's
material and irreparable breach of this Agreement; (2) Employee's gross
negligence in the performance or intentional nonperformance (continuing for ten
(10) days after receipt of written notice of need to cure) of any of Employee's
material duties and responsibilities hereunder; (3) Employee's dishonesty, fraud
or misconduct with respect to the business or affairs of the Company which
materially and adversely affects the operations or reputation of the Company;
(4) Employee's conviction of a felony crime; or (5) chronic alcohol abuse or
illegal drug abuse by Employee. In the event of a termination for good cause,
as enumerated above, Employee shall have no right to any severance compensation.
(d) Without Cause. At any time after the commencement of employment, the
Company or Employee may, without cause, terminate this Agreement and Employee's
employment, effective thirty (30) days after written notice is provided to the
other party. Should Employee be terminated by the Company without cause,
Employee shall receive from the Company, in a lump-sum payment due on the
effective date of termination, the base salary at the rate then in effect for
twelve (12) months. Further, any termination without cause by the Company shall
operate to shorten the period set forth in paragraph 3(a) and during which the
terms of paragraph 3 apply to one (1) year from the date of termination of
employment. If Employee resigns or otherwise terminates his employment without
cause pursuant to this paragraph 5(d), Employee shall receive no severance
compensation.
(e) Change in Control of the Company. This Agreement may be considered
terminated upon a "change in control", as defined in paragraph 11 below.
Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason provided above, Employee
shall be entitled to receive all compensation earned and all benefits and
reimbursements due through the effective date of termination. Additional
compensation subsequent to termination, if any, will be due and payable to
Employee only to the extent and in the manner expressly provided above or in
paragraph 11. All other rights and obligations of the Company and Employee
under this Agreement shall cease as of the effective date of termination, except
that the Company's obligations under paragraph 8 herein and Employee's
obligations under paragraphs 3, 5, 6, 7 and 9 herein shall survive such
termination in accordance with their terms.
If termination of Employee's employment arises out of the Company's failure
to pay Employee on a timely basis the amounts to which he is entitled under this
Agreement or as a result of any other breach of this Agreement by the Company,
as determined by a court of competent jurisdiction or pursuant to the provisions
of paragraph 15 below, the Company shall pay all amounts and damages to which
Employee may be entitled as a result of such breach, including interest
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thereon and all reasonable legal fees and expenses and other costs incurred by
Employee to enforce his rights hereunder. Further, none of the provisions of
paragraph 3 shall apply in the event this Agreement is terminated as a result of
a breach by the Company.
5. Return of Company Property. All records, designs, patents, business
plans, financial statements, manuals, memoranda, lists and other property
delivered to or compiled by Employee by or on behalf of the Company or its
affiliates or the representatives, vendors or customers thereof which pertain to
the business of the Company or its affiliates shall be and remain the property
of the Company and be subject at all times to the discretion and control
thereof. Likewise, all correspondence, reports, records, charts, advertising
materials and other similar data pertaining to the business, activities or
future plans of the Company or its affiliates which are collected by Employee
shall be delivered promptly to the Company without request by it upon
termination of Employee's employment.
6. Inventions. Employee shall disclose promptly to the Company any and
all significant conceptions and ideas for inventions, improvements and valuable
discoveries, whether patentable or not, which are conceived or made by Employee,
solely or jointly with another, during the period of employment or within one
(1) year thereafter, and which are directly related to the business or
activities of the Company or its affiliates and which Employee conceives as a
result of his employment by the Company. Employee hereby assigns and agrees to
assign all his interests therein to the Company or its nominee. Whenever
requested to do so by the Company, Employee shall execute any and all
applications, assignments or other instruments that the Company shall deem
necessary to apply for and obtain Letters Patent of the United States or any
foreign country or to otherwise protect the Company's interest therein.
7. Confidentiality.
(a) Employee acknowledges and agrees that all Confidential Information (as
defined below) of the Company and its affiliates is confidential and a valuable,
special, and unique asset of the Company that gives the Company an advantage
over its actual and potential, current, and future competitors. Employee
further acknowledges and agrees that Employee owes the Company a fiduciary duty
to preserve and protect all Confidential Information from unauthorized
disclosure or unauthorized use; certain Confidential Information constitutes
"trade secrets" under the laws of the state of Mississippi; and unauthorized
disclosure or unauthorized use of the Company's Confidential Information would
irreparably injure the Company.
(b) Both during the term of Employee's employment and after the termination
of Employee's employment for any reason (including wrongful termination),
Employee shall hold all Confidential Information in strict confidence, and shall
not use any Confidential Information except for the benefit of the Company, in
accordance with the duties assigned to Employer. Employee shall not, at any
time (either during or after the term of Employee's employment), disclose any
Confidential Information to any person or entity (except other employees of the
Company who have a need to know the information in connection with the
performance of their employment duties), or
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copy, reproduce, modify, decompile, or reverse engineer any Confidential
Information, or remove any Confidential Information from the Company's premises,
without the prior written consent of the Board of Directors of the Company, or
permit any other person to do so. Employee shall take reasonable precautions to
protect the physical security of all documents and other material containing
Confidential Information (regardless of the medium on which the Confidential
Information is stored). This Agreement applies to all Confidential Information,
whether now known or later to become known to Employee.
(c) Upon the termination of Employee's employment with the Company for any
reason, and upon request of the Company at any other time, Employee shall
promptly surrender and deliver to the Company all documents and other written
material of any nature containing or pertaining to any Confidential Information
and shall not retain any such document or other material. Within five days of
any such request, Employee shall certify to the Company in writing that all such
materials have been returned.
(d) As used in this Agreement, the term "Confidential Information" shall
mean any information or material known to or used by or for the Company or its
affiliates (whether or not owned or developed by the Company or its affiliates
and whether or not developed by Employee) that is not generally known to the
public. Confidential information included, but is not limited to, the
following: all trade secrets of the Company or its affiliates; all information
that the Company or its affiliates has marked as confidential or has otherwise
described to Employee (either in writing or orally) as confidential; all
nonpublic information concerning the Company's or its affiliates products,
services, prospective products or services, research, product designs, prices,
discounts, costs, marketing plans, marketing techniques, market studies, test
data, customers, customer lists and records, suppliers, and contracts; all
Company business records and plans; all Company personnel files; all financial
information of or concerning the Company or its affiliates; all information
relating to operating system software, application software, software and system
methodology, hardware platforms, technical information, inventions, computer
programs and listings, source codes, object codes, copyrights, and other
intellectual property; all technical specifications; any proprietary information
belonging to the Company or its affiliates; all computer hardware or software
manual; all training or instruction manuals; all data and all computer system
passwords and user codes.
8. Indemnification. In the event Employee is made a party to any
threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil,
criminal, administrative or investigative (other than an action by the Company
against Employee), by reason of the fact that he is or was performing services
under this Agreement, then the Company shall indemnify Employee against all
expenses (including attorneys' fees), judgments, fines and amounts paid in
settlement, as actually and reasonably incurred by Employee in connection
therewith. In the event that both Employee and the Company are made a party to
the same third-party action, complaint, suit or proceeding, the Company agrees
to engage competent legal representation, and Employee agrees to use the same
representation, provided that if counsel selected by the Company shall have a
conflict of interest that prevents such counsel from representing Employee,
Employee may engage separate counsel and the Company shall pay all attorneys'
fees of such separate counsel. Further, while Employee is expected
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at all times to use his best efforts to faithfully discharge his duties under
this Agreement, Employee cannot be held liable to the Company for errors or
omissions made in good faith where Employee has not exhibited gross, willful and
wanton negligence and misconduct or performed criminal and fraudulent acts which
materially damage the business of the Company.
9. No Prior Agreements. Employee hereby represents and warrants to the
Company that the execution of this Agreement by Employee and his employment by
the Company and the performance of his duties hereunder will not violate or be a
breach of any agreement with a former employer, client or any other person or
entity. Further, Employee agrees to indemnify the Company for any claim,
including, but not limited to, attorneys' fees and expenses of investigation, by
any such third party that such third party may now have or may hereafter come to
have against the Company based upon or arising out of any noncompetition
agreement, invention or secrecy agreement between Employee and such third party
which was in existence as of the date of this Agreement.
10. Assignment; Binding Effect. Employee understands that he has been
selected for employment by the Company on the basis of his personal
qualifications, experience and skills. Employee agrees, therefore, he cannot
assign all or any portion of his performance under this Agreement. Subject to
the preceding two (2) sentences and the express provisions of paragraph 12
below, this Agreement shall be binding upon, inure to the benefit of and be
enforceable by the parties hereto and their respective heirs, legal
representatives, successors and assigns.
11. Change in Control.
(a) Unless he elects to terminate this Agreement pursuant to (c) below,
Employee understands and acknowledges that the Company may be merged or
consolidated with or into another entity and that such entity shall
automatically succeed to the rights and obligations of the Company hereunder.
(b) In the event of a pending Change in Control wherein the Company and
Employee have not received written notice at least five (5) business days prior
to the anticipated closing date of the transaction giving rise to the Change in
Control from the successor to all or a substantial portion of the Company's
business and/or assets that such successor is willing as of the closing to
assume and agrees to perform the Company's obligations under this Agreement in
the same manner and to the same extent that the Company is hereby required to
perform, then such Change in Control shall be deemed to be a termination of this
Agreement by the Company without cause and the applicable portions of paragraph
5(d) will apply; however, under such circumstances, the amount of the lump-sum
severance payment due to Employee shall be triple the amount calculated under
the terms of paragraph 5(d) and the non-competition provisions of paragraph 3
shall not apply whatsoever.
(c) In any Change in Control situation, Employee may, at his sole
discretion, elect to terminate this Agreement by providing written notice to the
Company at least five (5) business days
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prior to the anticipated closing of the transaction giving rise to the Change in
Control. In such case, the applicable provisions of paragraph 5(d) will apply as
though the Company had terminated the Agreement without cause; however, under
such circumstances, the amount of the lump-sum severance payment due to Employee
shall be double the amount calculated under the terms of paragraph 5(d) and the
non-competition provisions of paragraph 3 shall all apply for a period of two
(2) years from the effective date of termination.
(d) For purposes of applying paragraph 5 under the circumstances described
in (b) and (c) above, the effective date of termination will be the closing date
of the transaction giving rise to the Change in Control and all compensation,
reimbursements and lump-sum payments due Employee must be paid in full by the
Company at or prior to such closing.
(e) A "Change in Control" shall be deemed to have occurred if:
(1) any person, other than the Company or an employee benefit plan of
the Company, acquires directly or indirectly the Beneficial Ownership (as
defined in Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended) of any voting security of the Company and immediately after such
acquisition such Person is, directly or indirectly, the Beneficial Owner of
voting securities representing 50% or more of the total voting power of all
of the then-outstanding voting securities of the Company;
(2) the individuals (A) who, as of the effective date of the Company's
registration statement with respect to its initial public offering,
constitute the Board of Directors of the Company (the "Original Directors")
or (B) who thereafter are elected to the Board of Directors of the Company
and whose election, or nomination for election, to the Board of Directors
of the Company was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the
Original Directors then still in office (such directors becoming
"Additional Original Directors" immediately following their election) or
(C) who are elected to the Board of Directors of the Company and whose
election, or nomination for election, to the Board of Directors of the
Company was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds (2/3) of the Original
Directors and Additional Original Directors then still in office (such
directors also becoming "Additional Original Directors" immediately
following their election) (such individuals being the "Continuing
Directors"), cease for any reason to constitute a majority of the members
of the Board of Directors of the Company;
(3) the stockholders of the Company shall approve a merger,
consolidation, recapitalization, or reorganization of the Company, a
reverse stock split of outstanding voting securities, or consummation of
any such transaction if stockholder approval is not sought or obtained,
other than any such transaction which would result in at least 75% of the
total voting power represented by the voting securities of the surviving
entity outstanding immediately after such transaction being Beneficially
Owned by at least 75 % of the holders of outstanding voting securities of
the Company immediately prior to the transaction, with
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the voting power of each such continuing holder relative to other such
continuing holders not substantially altered in the transaction; or
(4) the stockholders of the Company shall approve a plan of complete
liquidation of The Company or an agreement for the sale or disposition by
the Company of all or a substantial portion of the Company's assets (i.e.,
50% or more of the total assets of the Company).
(f) Employee must be notified in writing by the Company at any time that
the Company anticipates that a Change in Control may take place.
(g) Employee shall be reimbursed by the Company or its successor for any
excise taxes that Employee incurs under Section 4999 of the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as a result of any Change in Control. Such amount will be due and
payable by the Company or its successor within ten (10) days after Employee
delivers a written request for reimbursement accompanied by a copy of his tax
return(s) showing the excise tax actually incurred by Employee.
12. Complete Agreement. Except as expressly provided herein, this
Agreement is not a promise of future employment. Employee has no oral
understandings or agreements with the Company or any of its officers, directors
or representatives covering the same subject matter as this Agreement. This
written Agreement is the final, complete and exclusive statement and expression
of the agreement between the Company and Employee and of all the terms of this
Agreement, and it cannot be varied, contradicted or supplemented by evidence of
any prior or contemporaneous oral or written agreements. This written Agreement
may not be later modified except by a further writing signed by a duly
authorized officer of the Company and Employee, and no term of this Agreement
may be waived except by writing signed by the party waiving the benefit of such
term.
13. Notice. Whenever any notice is required hereunder, it shall be given
in writing addressed as follows:
To the Company: HAM Marine, Inc.
0000 Xxxx Xxxxxxxxx Xxxx
Xxxxxxxxxx, Xxxxxxxxxxx 00000
To Employee: __________________________
__________________________
__________________________
Notice shall be deemed given and effective three (3) days after the deposit
in the U.S. mail of a writing addressed as above and sent first class mail,
certified, return receipt requested, or when actually received. Either party
may change the address for notice by notifying the other party of such change in
accordance with this paragraph 14.
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14. Severability Headings. If any portion of this Agreement is held
invalid or inoperative, the other portions of this Agreement shall be deemed
valid and operative and, so far as is reasonable and possible, effect shall be
given to the intent manifested by the portion held invalid or inoperative. The
paragraph headings herein are for reference purposes only and are not intended
in any way to describe, interpret, define or limit the extent or intent of the
Agreement or of any part hereof.
15. Arbitration. Any unresolved dispute or controversy arising under or
in connection with this Agreement shall be settled exclusively by arbitration,
conducted before a panel of three (3) arbitrators in Houston, Texas, in
accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association then in
effect. The arbitrators shall not have the authority to add to, detract from,
or modify any provision hereof nor to award punitive damages to any injured
party. The arbitrators shall have the authority to order back-pay, severance
compensation, vesting of options (or cash compensation in lieu of vesting of
options), reimbursement of costs, including those incurred to enforce this
Agreement, and interest thereon in the event the arbitrators determine that
Employee was terminated without disability or good cause, as defined in
paragraphs 4(b) and 4(c), respectively, or that the Company has otherwise
materially breached this Agreement. A decision by a majority of the arbitration
panel shall be final and binding. Judgment may be entered on the arbitrators'
award in any court having jurisdiction.
16. Governing Law. This Agreement shall in all respects be construed
according to the laws of the State of Mississippi.
HAM MARINE, INC.
By:____________________________________
Name:
Title:
EMPLOYEE:
_______________________________________
_______________________________________
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