EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), entered into on the 20th day of October, 2023 (the “Effective Date”), by and between First Financial Bank, N.A. (the “Bank”), a national banking association organized under the laws of the United States of America, First Financial Corporation (the “Corporation”), a corporation formed under the laws of the State of Indiana and a financial holding company (jointly referred to herein as the “Company”) and Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx (the “Employee”), a resident of the State of Indiana.
WHEREAS, the Company and Employee are parties to an Employment Agreement dated July 26, 2022;
WHEREAS, the Employee currently serves each of the Bank and Corporation as its President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member and Chairman of the board of directors;
WHEREAS, as part of the Company’s succession planning for its senior executive officers, Employee and the Company have discussed from time to time Employee’s plans regarding his continuing service to the Company and to ensuring a successful transition to a successor President and Chief Executive Officer;
WHEREAS, as a result of such process, the Company and Employee have determined it to be in the best interest of the Company and Employee for Employee to continue to serve as President and Chief Executive Officer from the Effective Date through December 31, 2023, the “CEO Period”) and to transition to the successor President and Chief Executive Officer effective as of January 1, 2024;
WHEREAS, the Company has also determined it to be in the best interest of the Company to secure Employee’s continuing service to the Company as Executive Chairman for the period commencing January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024 (the “EC Period”), and as a member and Chairman of the Board thereafter, to ensure a successful transition;
WHEREAS, the Company desires to enter into this Agreement with the Employee in order to set forth the terms and conditions applicable to Employee’s employment to assure continuity of management and to reinforce and encourage the continued attention and dedication of the Employee to his assigned duties; and
WHEREAS, the parties desire, by this writing, to set forth the continuing employment relationship between the Company and the Employee.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the premises contained herein and for other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged, the Employee and the Company agree as follows:
In addition to the aforesaid paid vacations, the Employee shall be entitled, without loss of pay, to absent himself voluntarily from the performance of his employment with the Company for such additional periods of time and for such valid and legitimate reasons as the Company may determine and to attend the continuing legal education seminars contemplated by subsection 4(c) hereof. Further, the Company may grant to the Employee a leave or leaves of absence, with or without pay, at such time or times and upon such terms and conditions as the board of directors of the Bank or the Corporation in its discretion may determine.
For the purposes of this Agreement, “Separation of Service” shall mean the Employee dies, retires or otherwise experiences a “Termination of Employment” with the Company (as defined below). Provided, however, a Separation from Service does not occur if the Employee is on military leave, sick leave, or other bona fide leave of absence if the period of such leave does not exceed six months, or if longer, so long as the Employee retains a right to reemployment with the Company under an applicable statute or by contract. For purposes of this Agreement, a leave of absence constitutes a bona fide leave of absence only if there is a reasonable expectation that the Employee will return to perform services for the Bank or Corporation. If the period of leave exceeds six (6) months and the Employee does not retain the right to reemployment under an applicable statute or by contract, the employment relationship is deemed to terminate on the first date immediately following such six (6) month period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, where a leave of absence is due to any medically determinable physical or mental impairment that can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than six (6) months, where such impairment causes the Employee to be unable to perform the duties of his position of employment or any substantially similar position of employment, a twenty-nine (29) month period of absence may be substituted for such six (6) month period. The Employee shall incur a “Termination of Employment” for purposes of this Agreement when a termination of employment has occurred under Treasury Regulation 1.409A-1(h)(1)(ii).
For the purposes of this Agreement, the term “Business of the Company” shall mean the banking, loans, and investment and planning services provided by the Company.
For purposes of this Agreement, the term “solicit” means any direct or indirect communication of any kind whatsoever, regardless of by whom initiated, which encourages or requests any person or entity, in any manner, to terminate, reduce, limit or otherwise adversely change their business relationship with the Company.
The restrictions contained in this subsection 6(c) shall be limited to the following geographic areas (hereinafter referred to as “Restricted Geographical Area”):
Nothing contained in this Section 6 shall prevent or restrict the Employee from engaging in the practice of law, including within the Restricted Geographical Area. In addition, nothing contained in this subsection shall prevent or limit the Employee’s right to invest in the capital stock or other securities of any business dissimilar from that of the Bank or the Corporation, or, solely as a passive or minority investor, in any business.
If the Employee does not comply with the provisions of this Section, the one-year period of non-competition provided herein shall be tolled and deemed not to run during any period(s) of noncompliance, the intention of the parties being to provide one full year of non-competition by the Employee after the termination or expiration of this Agreement.
Nothing in this Section 6, or any other provision of the Agreement, is intended or shall be construed to prohibit Employee from reporting conduct to, providing information to, or participating in any investigation or proceeding brought or conducted by, any federal, state or local governmental agency, or self-regulatory organization.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event of Separation from Service for Just Cause there shall be delivered to the Employee a copy of a resolution duly adopted by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the disinterested directors of the Bank and the Corporation at meetings of the boards called and held for that purpose (after reasonable notice to the Employee and an opportunity for the Employee, together with the Employee’s counsel, to be heard before the boards), such meetings and the opportunity to be heard to be held prior to, or as soon as reasonably practicable following Separation from Service, but in no event later than sixty (60) days following such Separation from Service, finding that in the good faith opinion of the boards the Employee was guilty of conduct constituting Just Cause and specifying the particulars thereof in detail. If, following such meetings, the Employee is reinstated, he shall be entitled to receive the base salary, bonuses, vested rights, all Employee Benefits, Life Insurance Benefits, Expense Reimbursement Benefits and Motor Vehicle Benefits for the period following Separation from Service and continuing through reinstatement as though he never experienced a Separation from Service.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, but only to the extent required under federal banking law, the amount payable under subsection 8(d) shall be reduced to the extent that on the date of the Employee’s Separation from Service, the present value of the benefits payable under subsection 8(d) exceeds any limitation on severance benefits that is imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (the “OCC”) on such benefits.
All amounts payable to the Employee under subsections 8(d)(i) through 8(d)(iv) shall be paid in one lump sum within ten (10) days of such Separation from Service.
For purposes of this Agreement, “Good Reason” means the occurrence of any of the following events, which has not been consented to in advance by the Employee in writing (unless such voluntary Separation from Service occurs within the time period set forth in subsection 10(b) hereof, in which event the benefits and compensation provided for in Section 10 shall apply):
Notwithstanding the foregoing, but only to the extent required under federal banking law, the amount payable under this subsection shall be reduced to the extent that on the date of the Employee’s Separation from Service, the present value of the benefits payable under subsections 8(d)(i), (ii), (iii), and (iv) exceed any limitation on severance benefits that is imposed by the OCC on such benefits.
The amount payable to the Employee under subsections 10(a)(i)(1) or (2) above shall be paid in one lump sum within ten (10) days of such Separation from Service.
For purposes of subsections 10(a)(ii)(1) and (2), persons will not be considered to be acting as a group solely because they purchase or own stock of the Bank or the Corporation at the same time, or as a result of the same public offering. However, persons will be considered to be acting as a group if they are owners of a corporation that enters into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of stock or similar business transaction with the Bank or the Corporation. If a person, including an entity, owns stock in both corporations that enter into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of stock or similar transaction, such shareholder is considered to be acting as a group with other shareholders only with respect to the ownership in that corporation before the transaction giving rise to the change and not with respect to the ownership interest in the other corporation.
However, there is no Change in Control under this subsection when there is a transfer to an entity that is controlled by the shareholders of the Bank or Corporation immediately after the transfer. A transfer of assets by the Bank or Corporation is not treated as a change in the ownership of such assets if the assets are transferred to: (A) a shareholder of the Bank or Corporation (immediately before the asset transfer) in exchange for or with respect to its stock; (B) an entity, fifty (50) percent or more of the total value or voting power of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by the Bank or Corporation; (C) a person, or group of persons, that owns, directly or indirectly, fifty (50) percent or more of the total value or
voting power of all the outstanding stock of the Bank or Corporation, or (D) an entity, at least fifty (50) percent of the total value or voting power of which is owned, directly or indirectly, by a person described in (C). For purposes of this subsection, except as otherwise provided, a person’s status is determined immediately after the transfer of the assets. For example, a transfer to a company in which the Bank or Corporation has no ownership interest before the transaction, but which is a majority-owned subsidiary of the Bank or Corporation after the transaction, is not treated as a change in the ownership of the assets of the transferor Bank or Corporation.
For purposes of this subsection 10(a)(ii)(3), persons will not be considered to be acting as a group solely because they purchase assets of the Bank or Corporation at the same time. However, persons will be considered to be acting as a group if they are owners of a corporation that enters into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of assets, or similar business transaction with the Bank or Corporation. If a person, including an entity shareholder, owns stock in both corporations that enter into a merger, consolidation, purchase or acquisition of assets, or similar transaction, such shareholder is considered to be acting as a group with other shareholders in a corporation only to the extent of the ownership in that corporation before the transaction giving rise to the change and not with respect to the ownership interest in the other corporation.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the acquisition of Bank or Corporation stock by any retirement plan sponsored by the Bank or an affiliate of the Bank will not constitute a Change in Control. Additionally, notwithstanding the foregoing, but only to the extent required under federal banking law, the amount payable under subsection 10(a)(i) shall be reduced to the extent that on the date of the Employee’s Separation from Service, the amount payable under subsection 10(a)(i) exceeds any limitation on severance benefits that is imposed by the OCC.
The Employee shall thereupon be entitled to receive the Accrued Benefits and the lump sum payment described in subsection 10(a)(i) of this Agreement within ten (10) days of such Separation from Service.
For purposes of this subsection 10(b), “Good Reason” means, the occurrence of any of the following events, which has not been consented to in advance by the Employee in writing:
Notwithstanding the foregoing, but only to the extent required under federal banking law, the amount payable under subsection 10(b) shall be reduced to the extent that on the date of the Employee’s Separation from Service, the amount payable under subsection 10(b) exceeds any limitation on severance benefits that is imposed by the OCC.
Should the Employee fail to obtain a final judgment in favor of the Employee and a final judgment or arbitration decision is entered in favor of the Company and if decided by arbitration, the arbitrator, pursuant to subsection 10(d)(ii), determines the Employee to be responsible for the Company’s expenses, then the Company shall be reimbursed for all costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees arising from such dispute, proceedings or actions. Such reimbursement shall be paid within ten (10) days of the Company furnishing to the Employee written evidence, which may be in the form, among other things, of a canceled check or receipt, of any costs or expenses incurred by the Company.
If to the Employee: | Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx |
If to the Bank: | First Financial Bank, N.A. |
If to First Financial Corporation: | First Financial Corporation |
or to such other address as either party hereto may have furnished to the other party in writing in accordance herewith, except that notices of change of address shall be effective only upon receipt.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement on this 20th day of October, 2023.
ATTEST /s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxxx | FIRST FINANCIAL BANK, N.A. /s/ Xxxxxx X. XxXxxxxx |
ATTEST /s/ Xxxxx Xxxxxxx | FIRST FINANCIAL CORPORATION /s/ Xxxxxx X. XxXxxxxx |
| EMPLOYEE /s/ Xxxxxx X. Xxxxxx |