SENIOR EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SEVERANCE AND RETENTION PLAN
The purpose of
this Plan is to encourage Eligible Executive Officers to remain as
valued employees of the Company. This Plan supersedes any other
severance or retention benefit plan, policy or practice maintained
by the Company, in which the Eligible Executive Officers would
otherwise be entitled to participate. This Plan amends and
restates, and supersedes in its entirety, the Company’s
“Executive Officer Severance and Retention Plan” dated
June 5, 2003, as amended through October 15, 2008. Some
of the capitalized terms used in this Plan document are defined in
Section 6 of this Plan. This Plan document is also the Summary
Plan Description for the Plan.
Section
2. Eligibility For
Benefits.
(a)
General Provisions. An Eligible Executive Officer will be
eligible to receive Severance Benefits under this Plan in the event
his employment with the Company is (a) terminated by the
Company for a reason other than Cause or (b) voluntarily
terminated by the Eligible Executive Officer for Good Reason within
60 days after the initial occurrence of the circumstances
giving rise to Good Reason during the term of this Plan or within
six months following any Change in Control that occurs during the
term of this Plan. An Eligible Executive Officer will be eligible
to receive Retention Benefits under this Plan if (1) the
Eligible Executive Officer is employed by the Company upon the
occurrence of any Change in Control that occurs during the term of
this Plan or (2) his employment is terminated by the Company
without Cause in connection with, and prior to, such Change in
Control. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event a Board
Composition Change occurs, an Eligible Executive Officer will be
eligible to receive Retention Benefits under this Plan even if he
is not so employed upon the occurrence of a Change in Control, as
long as he was employed by the Company immediately prior to such
Board Composition Change. In order to be eligible to receive
Benefits under this Plan, an Eligible Executive Officer must
execute a general waiver and release in the form attached as
Exhibit A and such waiver and release must have become
effective as specified in Section 4(c) prior to the payment of such
Benefits.
(b)
Exceptions. An Eligible Executive Officer will not be
entitled to any Benefits if:
(1) His
employment with the Company is terminated for Cause at any
time.
(2) His
employment is voluntarily terminated for a reason other than Good
Reason or is terminated by reason of his death, retirement, failure
to return from a leave of absence or disability.
(3) The
Eligible Executive Officer is offered an identical or substantially
equivalent or comparable position with the Company or an affiliate
of the Company. For purposes of the foregoing, a
“substantially equivalent or comparable position” is
one that offers
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the employee
substantially the same level of responsibility and compensation:
provided, however, that if any aspect of the new position would
constitute Good Reason, the foregoing shall not preclude the
Eligible Executive Officer from being entitled to Benefits under
the Plan due to a termination for Good Reason.
(4) The
Eligible Executive Officer is offered immediate reemployment by a
successor to the Company or an affiliate of the Company or by a
purchaser of its assets, as the case may be, following a change in
ownership of the Company or an affiliate of the Company or a sale
of substantially all the assets of a division or business unit of
the Company or an affiliate of the Company: provided, however, that
if any aspect of the new position would constitute Good Reason, the
foregoing shall not preclude the Eligible Executive Officer from
being entitled to Benefits under the Plan due to a termination for
Good Reason. For purposes of the foregoing, “immediate
reemployment” means that the Eligible Executive Officer
‘s employment with the successor to the Company or an
affiliate of the Company or the purchaser of its assets, as the
case may be, results in uninterrupted employment such that the
Eligible Executive Officer does not suffer a lapse in pay as a
result of the change in ownership of the Company or an affiliate of
the Company or the sale of its assets.
Section
3. Amount Of Benefit.
(a)
Retention Benefits. An Eligible Executive Officer’s
Retention Benefit will be the acceleration of vesting of all stock
options granted to the Eligible Executive Officer by the Company as
provided in this Section 3(a). Upon a Change in Control, each
such option automatically will become exercisable (without right of
repurchase) for that number of shares equal to the number of shares
that would be purchasable under the option (without right of
repurchase) at the end of the period beginning upon such Change in
Control and ending on the date specified in the following table if
the Eligible Executive Officer were employed by the Company or its
successor at the end of such period:
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Title of Eligible Executive
Officer
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upon Change in
Control
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Acceleration Period
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Greater of
(a) 24 months and (b) 4 months for each full
year of employment by the Company
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Greater of
(a) 18 months and (b) 3 months for each full
year of employment by the Company
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(b)
Severance Benefits. An Eligible Executive Officer’s
Severance Benefits will be the benefits set forth in paragraphs
(1) through (3) below.
(1) The
Company will provide a severance payment based on the Eligible
Executive Officer’s base salary (and not commissions, bonuses
or other variable pay) determined in accordance with the following
table:
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Severance Payment
Amount
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Termination Occurs
in
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Termination Occurs Prior to,
and
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Title of Eligible Executive
Officer
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Connection with, or Six
Months
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not in Connection with, a
Change
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upon Termination of
Employment
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after, a Change in
Control
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in Control
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Greater of
(a) 24 months and (b) 4 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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Greater of
(a) 12 months and (b) 2 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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Greater of
(a) 18 months and (b) 3 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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Greater of
(a) 9 months and (b) 1.5 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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2 .
(2) If
the Eligible Executive Officer is, immediately prior to termination
of employment, enrolled in the Company’s health and/or dental
plan and timely elects to continue coverage under such health or
dental plan at the time of the Eligible Executive Officer’s
termination of employment under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget
Reconciliation Act of 1985 (“COBRA”), the Company will
pay the COBRA premiums for such health and/or dental insurance
coverage for the Eligible Executive Officer and his then-covered
dependents for the period of time following termination of
employment determined in accordance with the following
table:
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Title of Eligible Executive
Officer
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upon Termination of
Employment
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COBRA Benefits
Period
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Greater of
(a) 12 months and (b) 2 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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Greater of
(a) 9 months and (b) 1.5 months for each full year
of employment by the Company
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No provision of
this Plan will affect the continuation coverage rules under COBRA,
except that the Company’s payment of any applicable premiums
during the COBRA benefits period set forth in the foregoing table
will be credited, except for purposes of COBRA premium assistance
under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the
“ARRA”), as payment by the Eligible Executive Officer
for purposes of his or her payment required under COBRA. The period
during which an Eligible Executive Officer must elect to continue
the Company’s group medical or dental coverage at his or her
own expense under COBRA, the length of time during which COBRA
coverage will be made available to the Eligible Executive Officer,
and all other rights and obligations of the Eligible Executive
Officer under COBRA (except the obligations of the Company
hereunder) will be applied in the same manner that such rules apply
in the absence of this Plan. At the conclusion of the COBRA
benefits period set forth in the foregoing table, the Eligible
Executive Officer will be responsible for the entire payment of
premiums required under COBRA for the remainder of the COBRA
period, if any, except to the extent that the Eligible Executive
Officer qualifies under the ARRA as an “assistance eligible
individual” who is entitled to COBRA premium assistance
without recapture. For purposes of this Section 3(b)(2),
(i) references to COBRA shall be deemed to refer also to
analogous provisions of state law and (ii) any applicable
insurance premiums that are paid by the Company shall not include
any amounts payable by an Eligible Executive Officer under an
Internal Revenue Code Section 125 health care reimbursement
plan, which amounts, if any, are the sole responsibility of the
Eligible Executive Officer. All other benefits (such as life
insurance and disability coverage) terminate as of the
employee’s termination date, except to the extent that any
conversion privilege is available thereunder.
(3) The
acceleration of vesting of all stock options granted to the
Eligible Executive Officer by the Company as provided below. Upon
termination of employment, each such option automatically will
become exercisable (without right of repurchase) for that number of
shares equal to the number of shares that would be purchasable
under the option (without right of repurchase) at the end of the
period beginning upon termination of employment and ending on the
date specified in the following table if the Eligible Executive
Officer were employed by the Company or its successor at the end of
such period:
3 .
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Title of Eligible Executive
Officer upon
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Termination of
Employment
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Acceleration Period
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Greater of
(a) 24 months and (b) 4 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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Greater of
(a) 18 months and (b) 3 months for each full year of
employment by the Company
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In the event of
a termination of employment in connection with, or within six
months after, a Change in Control, the acceleration of vesting
provided by this paragraph (3) is intended to be in addition
to the acceleration of vesting that would have occurred upon the
Change in Control pursuant to Section 3(a).
(c)
Income Tax Liabilities and Withholding. All income tax
liabilities with respect to payments under this Plan will be solely
those of the affected Eligible Executive Officer and not the
Company or any other party. The Company will have no obligation to
structure Benefit payments or otherwise administer this Plan in a
manner as to reduce or eliminate such liabilities. Payments under
this Plan will be subject to withholdings and deductions as may be
required by law.
(d)
Certain Tax Provisions Affecting Amount of Payments.
Anything in this Plan to the contrary notwithstanding, in the event
it is determined that any payment by the Company to an Eligible
Executive Officer hereunder (a “Payment”) would cause
the Eligible Executive Officer to be liable for an excise tax
pursuant to Section 4999 of the Code, then the aggregate
present value of all amounts payable as Benefits shall be reduced
to the Reduced Amount. The “Reduced Amount” will be an
amount, expressed in present value, that maximizes the aggregate
present value of Benefits without causing any Payment to create an
excise tax liability under Section 4999 of the Code. For
purposes of this Section 3(d), present value will be
determined in accordance with Section 280G(d)(4) of the
Code.
(e)
Certain Reductions. The Company in its sole discretion,
shall have the authority to reduce an Eligible Executive
Officer’s Benefits, in whole or in part, by any other
severance benefits, pay and benefits provided during a period
following written notice of a plant closing or mass layoff, pay and
benefits in lieu of such notice, or other similar benefits payable
to the Eligible Executive Officer by the

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