Exhibit 10.25
AMENDED AND RESTATED EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
This Amended and Restated Employment
Agreement, dated as of December 31, 2008 (this “
Agreement ”), is by and between James D. Berry (the
“ Executive ”) and Safety Insurance
Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “
Company ”);
W I T N
E S S E
T H :
WHEREAS, the Company wishes to
obtain the future services of the Executive for and on behalf of
the Companies (as defined in Section 11 );
WHEREAS, the Executive is willing
upon the terms and conditions herein set forth, to provide services
to the Companies hereunder; and
WHEREAS, the Company wishes to
secure the Executive’s non-interference with the
Companies’ business, upon the terms and conditions herein set
forth;
WHEREAS, the Executive and the
Company entered into an Employment Agreement, dated October 1, 2005
(the “ Prior Employment Agreement ”);
and
WHEREAS, the Executive and the
Company desire to amend and restate the Prior Employment
Agreement.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the mutual promises and covenants contained herein, and intending
to be legally bound hereby, the parties hereto agree as
follows:
1.
Nature of Employment
Subject to Section 3 ,
the Company shall continue to employ Executive, and Executive shall
serve the Company, in accordance with the terms of this Agreement,
during the Term of Employment (as defined in
Section 3(a) ), as Vice President of the Company with
such duties and responsibilities as are customarily assigned to an
executive in such position and such other duties and
responsibilities not inconsistent therewith as may from time to
time reasonably be assigned to the Executive by the Board of
Directors and/or Chairman of the Board, President and Chief
Executive Officer of the Company. The Executive also agrees
to serve without additional compensation in such capacities
(including, without limitation, as an officer or director) with
Company affiliates as the Board of Directors and/or Chairman of the
Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company may
prescribe. Upon termination of the Executive’s
employment with the Company, the Executive’s employment,
board membership or other service relationship with any Company
affiliate shall automatically terminate unless otherwise agreed to
by the parties.
2.
Extent of Employment
(a)
During the Term of Employment, the Executive shall perform his
obligations hereunder faithfully and to the best of his ability at
the principal executive offices of the Company, under the direction
of the Board of Directors and/or Chairman of the Board, President
and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, and shall abide by the
rules, customs and usages from time to time established by the
Companies.
(b)
During the Term of Employment, the Executive shall devote all of
his business time, energy and skill as may be reasonably necessary
for the performance of his duties, responsibilities and obligations
hereunder (except for vacation periods and reasonable periods of
illness or other incapacity), consistent with past practices and
norms in similar positions.
(c)
Nothing contained herein shall require Executive to follow any
directive or to perform any act which would violate any laws,
ordinances, regulations or rules of any governmental,
regulatory or administrative body, agent or authority, any court or
judicial authority, or any public, private or industry regulatory
authority (collectively, the “ Regulations
”). Executive shall act in good faith in accordance
with all Regulations.
3.
Term of Employment; Termination
(a)
The “ Term of Employment ” shall commence on
October 1, 2005 and shall continue until December 31, 2008 (the
“ Initial Term ”); provided , that,
(i) such term shall continue for the twelve month period
following such Initial Term, and for each twelve month period
thereafter (each, an “ Additional Term ”),
unless at least 180 days prior to the scheduled expiration date of
the Initial Term or any Additional Term, either the Executive or
the Company notifies the other of its decision not to continue such
term and (ii) should the Executive’s employment by the
Company be earlier terminated pursuant to Section 3(b)
or by the Executive pursuant to Section 3(c) ,
the Term of Employment shall end on the date of such earlier
termination.
(b)
Subject to the payments contemplated by Sections 3(f)
through 3(i) , the Term of Employment may be
terminated at any time by the Company:
(i)
upon the death of Executive;
(ii)
in the event that because of physical or mental disability
Executive is unable to perform, and does not perform, in the view
of the Company and as certified in writing by a competent medical
physician, his duties hereunder for a continuous period of three
consecutive months or any sixty working days out of any consecutive
six month period;
(iii)
for Cause (as defined in Section 3(d) ) or Material
Breach (as defined in Section 3(e) );
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(iv)
upon the continuous poor or unacceptable performance of the
Executive’s duties to the Companies (other than due to a
physical or mental disability), which has remained uncured for a
period of 90 days after delivery of notice by the Company to the
Executive of such dissatisfaction with Executive’s
performance, which notice shall describe in reasonable detail the
areas of dissatisfaction; or
(v)
for any other reason or no reason, it being understood that no
reason is required.
Executive acknowledges that no
representations or promises have been made concerning the grounds
for termination or the future operation of the Companies’
business, and that nothing contained herein or otherwise stated by
or on behalf of any of the Companies modifies or amends the right
of the Company to terminate Executive at any time, with or without
Material Breach or Cause. Termination shall become effective
upon the delivery by the Company to the Executive of notice
specifying such termination and the reasons therefor (i.e.,
Section 3 (b)(i)-(v) ), subject to the requirements for
advance notice and an opportunity to cure provided in this
Agreement, if and to the extent applicable. Notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in this Agreement, for purposes of this
Agreement, any reference to “termination,” as it
relates to a termination of the Executive’s employment, shall
refer to a termination of employment which constitutes a
“separation from service” within the meaning of
Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended
and the regulations promulgated thereunder (“
Section 409A ”).
(c)
Subject to the payments contemplated by Section 3(f)
and 3(i) , the Term of Employment may be terminated at
any time by the Executive:
(i)
upon the death of Executive;
(ii)
as a result of a material reduction in Executive’s authority,
perquisites, position or responsibilities (other than such a
reduction in perquisites which affects all of the Company’s
senior executives on a substantially equal or proportionate basis),
the relocation of the Company’s primary place of business or
the relocation of Executive by any of the Companies to another
office more than 75 miles from Boston, Massachusetts, or the
Company’s willful, material violation of its obligations
under this Agreement, in each case, after 60 days’ prior
written notice to the Company and its Board of Directors and the
Company’s failure thereafter to cure such reduction or
violation; or
(iii)
as a result of the Company’s willful and material violation
of this Agreement, the 2002 Management Omnibus Incentive Plan (the
“ Incentive Plan ”), or any agreement between
Executive and any of the Companies pertaining to awards made
pursuant to the Incentive Plan or the Executive Incentive
Compensation Plan, in each case as such agreements or plans may be
amended from time to time.
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(d)
For the purposes of this
Section 3 , “ Cause ” shall mean any
of the following:
(i)
Executive’s commission or conviction of any crime or criminal
offense involving monies or other property or any
felony;
(ii)
Executive’s commission or conviction of fraud or
embezzlement;
(iii)
Executive’s material and knowing violation of any obligations
imposed upon Executive, personally, as opposed to upon the Company,
whether as a stockholder or otherwise, under this Agreement, the
Incentive Plan or any other agreement between the Executive, on the
one hand, and any of the Companies, on the other hand, the Amended
and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, or the By-Laws of the
Company, in each case as may be amended from time to time;
provided , that the Executive has been given written notice
describing any such violation in reasonable detail and fails to
cure the violation within 90 days from such notice; or
(iv)
Executive engages in egregious misconduct involving serious moral
turpitude to the extent that Executive’s credibility and
reputation no longer conform to the standard of the Company’s
executives.
(e)
For the purposes of this
Section 3 , “ Material Breach ”
shall mean any of the following:
(i)
Executive’s breach of any of his fiduciary duties to the
Companies or their stockholders or making of a willful
misrepresentation or omission which breach, misrepresentation or
omission would reasonably be expected to materially adversely
affect the business, properties, assets, condition (financial or
other) or prospects of the Companies;
(ii)
Executive’s willful, continual and material neglect or
failure to discharge his duties, responsibilities or obligations
prescribed by this Agreement or any other agreement between the
Executive and any of the Companies (other than arising solely due
to physical or mental disability);
(iii)
Executive’s habitual drunkenness or substance abuse which
materially interferes with Executive’s ability to discharge
his duties, responsibilities or obligations prescribed by this
Agreement or any other agreement between the Executive and any of
the Companies; and
(iv)
Executive’s willful and material violation of any
non-competition, non-disparagement, or confidentiality agreement
with any of the Companies, including without limitation, those set
forth in Sections 7 , 8 and 9 of this
Agreement, or any other agreements with any of the
Companies;
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in each case, for purposes of clauses
(i) through (iv), after the Company or the Board of Directors
of the Company has provided Executive with 60 days’ written
notice describing such circumstances and the possibility of a
Material Breach in reasonable detail, and Executive fails to cure
such circumstances and Material Breach within those 60 days.
No act or omission shall be deemed willful if done, or omitted to
be done, in good faith by the Executive based upon a resolution
duly adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors.
(f)
In the event Executive’s employment is terminated by the
Company under any circumstances described in
Section 3(b)(v) or by Executive under the
circumstances described in Section 3(c)(ii) or
(iii) ,
(i)
the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to the Executive,
(A) within five business days after the date of termination,
any earned but unpaid base salary and, subject to the provisions of
Section 5, any expense reimbursement payments owed to the
Executive, and (B) any earned but unpaid annual bonus payments
relating to the prior year to be paid in accordance with the terms
and conditions of the Safety Insurance Group, Inc. Annual
Performance Incentive Plan, or any successor plan thereto
(collectively, the “ Accrued Obligations
”);
(ii)
the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to the Executive, within
thirty business days after the date of termination, a lump-sum
payment equal to the annual base salary the Executive would have
received over the remaining Term of Employment if his employment
had not terminated, assuming for this purpose that a notice not to
extend the Term of Employment was provided on the date of
termination (the “ Severance Period ”), based on
the Executive’s base salary in effect immediately prior to
the date of termination; and
(iii)
subject to the provisions of Section 5 , during the
Severance Period, the Company will provide or cause to be provided
to the Executive (and any covered dependents), with life and health
insurance benefits (but not disability insurance benefits)
substantially similar to those the Executive and any covered
dependents were receiving immediately prior to the date of
termination and at the same dollar cost to the Executive as in
effect immediately prior to the termination of employment.
Nothing in this Section 3(f)(iii) will extend the
COBRA continuation coverage period.
(g)
In the event the Executive’s employment is terminated within
three years after a Change of Control (provided the Term of
Employment has not already expired) under any circumstances
described in Section 3(b)(v) or by Executive
under the circumstances described in Section 3(c)(ii)
or (iii) ,
(i)
the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to the Executive any
Accrued Obligations in accordance with Section 3(f)(i
);
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(ii)
the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to the Executive, within
thirty business days after the date of termination, a lump-sum
payment equal to two (2) times the sum of (A) the
Executive’s annual base salary in effect immediately prior to
the date of termination and (B) the most recent annual bonus
paid to the Executive prior to the Change in Control;
and
(iii)
subject to the provisions of Section 5 , for a two
(2) year period after the date of termination, the Company
will provide or cause to be provided to the Executive (and any
covered dependents), with life and health insurance benefits (but
not disability insurance benefits) substantially similar to those
the Executive and any covered dependents were receiving immediately
prior to the date of termination and at the same dollar cost to the
Executive as in effect immediately prior to the termination of
employment. Nothing in this Section 3(g)(iii)
will extend the COBRA continuation coverage
period.
(h)
In the event Executive’s employment is terminated by the
Company under the circumstances described in
Section 3(b)(iv) ,
(i)
the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to the Executive any
Accrued Obligations in accordance with Section 3(f)(i)
;
(ii)
the Company shall pay or cause to be paid to the Executive, within
thirty business days after the date of termination, a lump-sum
payment equal to three (3) months base salary, based on the
Executive’s base salary in effect immediately prior to the
date of termination; and
(iii)
subject to the provisions of Section 5 , for a three
(3) month period after the date of termination, the Company
will provide or cause to be provided to the Executive (and any
covered dependents), with life and health insurance benefits (but
not disability insurance benefits) substantially similar to those
the Executive and any covered dependents were receiving immediately
prior to the date of termination and at the same dollar cost to the
Executive as in effect immediately prior to the termination of
employment. Nothing in this Section 3(h)(iii)
will extend the COBRA continuation coverage
period.
(i)
In the event Executive’s employment is terminated by the
Company under the circumstances described in
Section 3(b)(i) or (ii) or by the
Executive under Section 3(c)(i) ,
(i)
the Company will pay or cause to be paid to the Executive (or the
Executive’s estate or representative, as the case may be) any
Accrued Obligations in accordance with Section 3(f)(i)
;
(ii)
the Company will pay or cause to be paid to the Executive (or the
Executive’s estate or representative, as the case may be),
within thirty business days after the date of termination, a
lump-sum payment equal to 100% of the
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Executive’s annual base salary
in effect immediately prior to the date of termination;
and
(iii)
subject to the provisions of Section 5 , for a one
(1) year period after the date of termination, the Company
will provide or cause to be provided to the Executive (and any
covered dependents), with life and health insurance benefits (but
not disability insurance benefits) substantially similar to those
the Executive and any covered dependents were receiving immediately
prior to the date of termination and at the same dollar cost to the
Executive as in effect immediately prior to the termination of
employment. Nothing in this Section 3(i)(iii)
will extend the COBRA continuation coverage
period.
(j)
In the event Executive’s employment is terminated by the
Company under any circumstances described in
Section 3(b)(iii) or by Executive as a result of
resignation or voluntary termination due to any circumstance other
than the material reductions, relocation or violations described in
Section 3(c)(ii) above, there will be no amounts
owed to the Executive under Section 4 or any other part
of this Agreement, from and after the effectiveness of
termination.
(k)
The payments and benefits required by Section 3(f), 3(g),
3(h) or 3(i) , as applicable, constitute severance and
liquidated damages, and, except for payments that may be required
pursuant to Section 10 , the Company will be obligated
to pay or cause to be paid any further amounts to Executive under
this Agreement or otherwise be liable to Executive in connection
with any termination.
(l)
All determinations pursuant to this Section 3 shall be
made by the Company’s Board of Directors (not including
Executive) in good faith.
(m)
Termination of the Term of Employment will not terminate
Sections 7 through 10 and 12 through 23
, or any other provisions not associated specifically with the Term
of Employment.
(n)
In the event the Term of Employment is terminated and the Company
is obligated to make or cause to be made payments pursuant to
Section 3(f) , the Executive will use his reasonable
efforts to seek and obtain alternative employment; provided
, however , that the Executive shall not be required to
accept a position or positions of a substantially different
character than the position(s) held by him under this
Agreement; and provided further , if the
Executive shall become physically or mentally disabled, he will not
be under such duty. Moreover, in the event that after the
Restricted Period pursuant to Section 8(a) , Executive
is employed by or engaged in a Competitive Business as contemplated
by Section 8(a)(i) , then the payments under
Section 3(f) will thereupon cease.
(o)
Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, as a
condition to payment of any amounts or provision of any benefits
pursuant to Sections 3(f) through 3(i) or
10 of this Agreement (other than due to the
Executive’s death), the Executive shall
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be required to have executed a complete release
of the Companies and related parties in such form as is reasonably
required by the Company. Subject to Section 3(p)
, all payments and benefits under this Section 3 shall
be paid or commenced on the sixtieth (60th) day following the date
of termination of the Executive’s employment, provided that
the release described in the preceding sentence becomes irrevocable
prior to such sixtieth (60th) day.
(p)
Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Executive is a
“specified employee” within the meaning of
Section 409A at the time of a termination, any portion of the
payments under this Section 3 due hereunder during the
first six months following the date of the Executive’s
termination, to extent that such payments constitute
“deferred compensation” under Section 409A, shall
not be paid during such six-month period and instead shall be paid
on the first business day following the expiration of such
six-month period. The remaining portion of the payments due
hereunder shall be paid as provided in the applicable provisions of
this Section 3 .
4.
Compensation
The Company shall pay or cause to be
paid to Executive the following compensation:
(a)
During the Term of Employment, the Company shall pay or cause to be
paid to Executive as base compensation for his services hereunder,
in monthly installments, a base salary at a rate of $150,000 per
annum, as increased on an annual basis to reflect the increase in
the United States Cost of Living Index for All Urban Consumer
(CPI-U) for the Boston, Massachusetts area (the “ CPI-U
Index ”). The January 2004 CPI-U Index shall
provide the basis for calculations of such increases.
Notwithstanding the minimum increase set forth above, the Board of
Directors of the Company or a committee thereof may
establ