Non-competition Agreement
In recognition of your critical role as a senior executive with (“Company”) and your access to Company Confidential Information and/or Company customer goodwill by virtue of your position, your membership on , and/or your appointment as a ; and/or as mutually agreed upon consideration for your promotion or hiring as a senior executive, including your eligibility for awards to be granted to you under a Company Long-Term Performance Plan (which constitutes independent consideration for Section (1.e) herein); and/or for other good and valuable consideration, you (“Employee” or “you”) agree to the terms and conditions herein of this Noncompetition Agreement (the “Agreement”). Capitalized terms not otherwise defined shall have the meaning ascribed to them in Section (2.a).
Covenants.
You acknowledge and agree that:
the compensation that you will receive in connection with this Agreement, including any equity awards, cash and/or other compensation, your position as a senior executive, and/or your appointment to or continued membership on the or any successor team or group (“ST”), if applicable, and/or your appointment as a , if applicable, is consideration for your work at Company, your agreement to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, and your compliance with the post-employment restrictive covenants included in this Agreement.
the business in which Company and its affiliates (collectively, the “Company Group”) are engaged is intensely competitive;
your employment by Company and/or your membership on the ST, if applicable, and/or your role as a , if applicable, requires that you have access to, and knowledge of, Company Confidential Information, including Company Confidential Information that pertains not only to your business or unit, but also to the Company Group’s global operations;
you are given access to, and develop relationships with, actual and prospective customers of the Company Group at the time and expense of the Company Group; and
by your training, experience and expertise, you and your services to the Company Group are, and will continue to be, extraordinary, special and unique.
the disclosure of Company Confidential Information would place the Company Group at a serious competitive disadvantage and would do serious damage, financial and otherwise, to the business of the Company Group; and
you will keep in strict confidence, and will not, directly or indirectly, at any time during or after your employment with Company, disclose, furnish, disseminate, make available, rely on or use, except in the course of performing your duties of employment with Company, any Company Confidential Information or any other trade secrets or confidential business and technical information of the Company Group or its customers or vendors, without limitation as to when or how you may have acquired such information.
Company Confidential Information, whether reduced to writing, maintained on any form of electronic media, or maintained in your mind or memory and whether compiled by the Company Group and/or you, is owned by the Company Group;
Company Confidential Information includes, but is not limited to, information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known to or readily ascertainable through proper means by others who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, and is the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain the secrecy of such information;
Company Confidential Information includes, but is not limited to, information that constitutes a trade secret of the Company Group; and
the retention, disclosure and/or use of such Company Confidential Information by you during or after your employment with Company (except in the course of performing your duties and obligations to the Company Group) shall constitute a misappropriation of the Company Group’s trade secrets.
during your employment with Company and for following the termination of your employment either by you or by Company:
you will not directly or indirectly, within the Restricted Area, Engage in or Associate with (a) any Business Enterprise or (b) any competitor of the Company Group, if performing the duties and responsibilities of such engagement or association could result in you (1) intentionally or unintentionally using, disclosing, or relying upon Company Confidential Information to which you had access by virtue of your job duties or other responsibilities with Company or (2) exploiting customer goodwill cultivated in the course of your employment with Company; however, in the event that your employment with Company is terminated by Company as a direct result of a resource action and not for Cause, the post-employment restriction in this clause will not apply; and
you will not directly or indirectly solicit, for competitive business purposes, any actual or prospective customer of the Company Group which you were directly or indirectly involved with or exposed to confidential information about as part of your job responsibilities during the last of your employment with Company.
during your employment with Company and for 0 years following the termination of your employment either by you or by Company for any reason, you will not directly or indirectly, within the Restricted Area, hire, solicit or make an offer to, or attempt to or participate or assist in any effort to hire, solicit, or make an offer to, any Employee of the Company Group to be employed or to perform services outside of the Company Group.
Definitions.
The following terms have the meanings provided below.
“Business Enterprise” means any entity that engages or intends to engage in, or owns or controls an interest in any entity that engages in or intends to engage in, competition with, or during your restrictive period becomes competitive with, any business unit or division of the Company Group in which you worked at any time during the 0 years period prior to the termination of your employment.
“Cause” means, as reasonably determined by Company, the occurrence of any of the following: (i) embezzlement, misappropriation of corporate funds or other material acts of dishonesty; (ii) commission or conviction of any felony or of any misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, or entry of a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any felony or misdemeanor (other than a minor traffic violation or other minor infraction); (iii) engagement in any activity that you know or should know could harm the business or reputation of the Company Group; (iv) failure to adhere to the Company Group’s corporate codes, policies or procedures; (v) a breach of any covenant in any employment agreement or any intellectual property agreement, or a breach of any other provision of your employment agreement, in either case if the breach is not cured to the Company Group’s satisfaction within a reasonable period after you are provided with notice of the breach (no notice and cure period is required if the breach cannot be cured); (vi) failure by you to perform your duties or follow management direction, which failure is not cured to the Company Group’s satisfaction within a reasonable period of time after a written demand for substantial performance is delivered to you (no notice or cure period is required if the failure to perform cannot be cured); (vii) violation of any statutory, contractual or common law duty or obligation to the Company Group, including, without limitation, the duty of loyalty; (viii) rendering of services for any organization or engaging directly or indirectly in any business which is or becomes competitive with the Company Group, or which organization or business, or the rendering of services to such organization or business, is or becomes otherwise prejudicial to or in conflict with the interests of the Company Group; or (ix) acceptance of an offer to Engage in or Associate with any business which is or becomes competitive with the Company Group; provided, however, that the mere failure to achieve performance objectives shall not constitute Cause.
“Employee of the Company Group” means any employee of the Company Group who worked within the Restricted Area at any time in the period immediately preceding any actual or attempted hiring, solicitation or making of an offer.
“Engage in or Associate with” includes, without limitation, engagement or association as a sole proprietor, owner, employer, director, partner, principal, joint venturer, associate, employee, member, consultant, or contractor. The phrase also includes engagement or association as a shareholder or investor during the course of your employment with Company, and includes beneficial ownership of % or more of any class of outstanding stock of a Business Enterprise or competitor of the Company Group following the termination of your employment with Company.
“Company Confidential Information” is any information, whether or not labeled Company Confidential, of a confidential or secret nature that is disclosed to you, or created or learned by you, in the course of your employment with the Company Group, that relates to the business of the Company Group, including but not limited to trade secrets. Examples of Company Confidential Information include, but are not limited to: the Company Group’s formulae, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, software, tools, systems, and processes, the Company Group’s selling, manufacturing, and servicing methods and business techniques, implementation strategies, and information about any of the foregoing, the Company Group’s training, service, and business manuals, promotional materials, training courses, and other training and instructional materials, vendor and product information, customer and prospective customer lists, other customer and prospective customer information, client data, global strategic plans, marketing plans, information about the Company Group’s management techniques and management strategies, information regarding long-term business opportunities, information regarding the development status of specific Company Group products, assessments of the global competitive landscape of the industries in which the Company Group competes, plans for investment in or acquisition, divestiture or disposition of products or companies or business units, expansion plans, financial status and plans, compensation information, and personnel information.
“Restricted Area” means any geographic area in the world in which you worked or for which you had job responsibilities, including supervisory responsibilities, during the last of your employment with Company. You acknowledge that Company is a global company and that the responsibilities of certain Company employees, including, without limitation, ST members, are global in scope.
Acknowledgements.
You acknowledge that a mere agreement not to disclose, use or rely on Company Confidential Information after your employment by Company ends would be inadequate, standing alone, to protect Company’s legitimate business interests. You acknowledge that disclosure of, use of, or reliance on Company Confidential Information, whether or not intentional, is often difficult or impossible for the Company Group to detect until it is too late to obtain any effective remedy. You acknowledge that the Company Group will suffer irreparable harm if you fail to comply with Section 1. or otherwise improperly disclose, use, or rely on Company Confidential Information. You acknowledge that the restrictions set forth in Section 1. are reasonable as to geography, scope an and duration. You acknowledge that you have the right to consult with counsel prior to signing this Agreement.
Injunctive Relief.
You agree that the Company Group would suffer irreparable harm if you were to breach, or threaten to breach, any provision of this Agreement and that the Company Group would by reason of such breach, or threatened breach, be entitled to injunctive relief in a court of appropriate jurisdiction, without the need to post any bond, and you further consent and stipulate to the entry of such injunctive relief in such a court prohibiting you from breaching, or further breaching, this Agreement. This Section shall not, however, diminish the right of the Company Group to claim and recover damages in addition to injunctive relief.
Severability.
In the event that any one or more of the provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid or unenforceable, the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions shall not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. Moreover, if any one or more of the provisions contained in this Agreement shall be held to be excessively broad as to duration, geographic scope, activity or subject, such provisions shall be construed by limiting and reducing them so as to be enforceable to the maximum extent allowed by applicable law. Furthermore, a determination in any jurisdiction that this Agreement, in whole or in part, is invalid or unenforceable shall not in any way affect or impair the validity or enforceability of this Agreement in any other jurisdiction.
Headings.
The headings in this Agreement are inserted for convenience and reference only and shall in no way affect, define, limit or describe the scope, intent or construction of any provision hereof.
Waiver.
The failure of Company to enforce any terms, provisions or covenants of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of the same or of the right of Company to enforce the same. Waiver by Company of any claim for breach or default by you (or by any other employee or former employee of Company) of any term or provision of this Agreement (or any similar agreement between Company and you or any other employee or former employee of Company) shall not operate as a waiver of any other claim for breach or default.
Successors and Assigns.
This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon Company, any successor organization which shall succeed to Company by acquisition, merger, consolidation or operation of law, or by acquisition of assets of Company and any assigns. You may not assign your obligations under this Agreement.
Disclosure of Existence of Covenants.
You agree that while employed by Company and for 0 years thereafter, you will communicate the contents of this Agreement to any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation or other entity which you intend to be employed by, associated with or represent, prior to accepting such employment, association or representation.
Notice to Company of Prospective Position.
You agree that if, at any time during your employment or within following the termination of your employment with Company, you are offered and intend to accept a position with any person, firm, association, partnership, corporation or other entity other than the Company Group, you will provide the for Company with 0 weeks’ written notice prior to accepting any such position. This 0 weeks’ written notice is separate from any other notice obligations you may have under agreements with Company. If for any reason you cannot, despite using your best efforts, provide the 0 weeks’ written notice prior to accepting any such position, you agree that you will provide 0 weeks’ written notice prior to commencing that new position. You acknowledge and agree that a 0 weekswritten notice period is appropriate and necessary to permit Company to determine whether, in its view, your proposed new position could lead to a violation of this Agreement, and you agree that you will provide Company with such information as Company may request to allow Company to complete its assessment (except that you need not provide any information that would constitute confidential or trade secret information of any entity other than the Company Group).
During the notice period required by this Section, Company may choose, in its sole discretion, to limit your duties in your position with Company and to restrict your access to Company’s premises, systems, products, information, and employees. Company is committed to protect its trade secrets and other confidential and proprietary information, and will take all necessary and appropriate steps to do so. You agree to cooperate with Company in good faith to ensure that its trade secrets and other confidential and proprietary information are not disclosed, either intentionally or inadvertently.
No Oral Modification.
This Agreement may not be changed orally, but may be changed only in a writing signed by the Employee and a duly authorized representative of Company.
Entire Agreement.
Although this Agreement sets forth the entire understanding between the Employee and Company concerning the restrictive covenants herein, this Agreement does not impair, diminish, restrict or waive any other restrictive covenant, nondisclosure obligation or confidentiality obligation of the Employee to the Company Group under any other agreement, policy, plan or program of the Company Group. Nothing herein affects your rights, immunities or obligations under any federal, state or local law, as described in the Company Group’s Business Conduct Guidelines, or prohibits you from reporting possible violations of law or regulation to a government agency, as protected by law. The Employee and Company represent that, in executing this Agreement, the Employee and Company have not relied upon any representations or statements made, other than those set forth herein, with regard to the subject matter, basis or effect of this Agreement.
Governing Law and Choice of Forum.
This Agreement shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of , without regard to its or any other jurisdiction’s conflict of law rules. The parties agree that any action or proceeding with respect to this Agreement shall be brought exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in or , in the state of . The parties agree to the personal jurisdiction thereof, and irrevocably waive any objection to the venue of such action, including any objection that the action has been brought in an inconvenient forum. Notwithstanding this Section, if you reside in , and have resided for at least 0 days immediately preceding, at the time of the termination of your employment with Company, any action or proceeding with respect to this Agreement may be brought in the county where you reside.
