Exhibit 10.12
EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
This Employment Agreement (this
“Agreement”) is entered into as January 5, 2009
(the “Effective Date”), by and between AMVAC CHEMICAL
CORPORATION, a California corporation (the “Company”),
and TREVOR THORLEY (“Employee”) to set forth the terms
and conditions of the Company’s employment of
Employee.
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of
the mutual promises set forth herein and other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which is hereby
acknowledged, the parties hereto agree as follows:
1. Employment
.
(a) The Company hereby employs
Employee and Employee hereby accepts employment by the Company
pursuant to the terms and conditions of this Agreement.
(b) Employee is engaged by the
Company with such title and capacity as set forth in the Schedule
of Responsibilities attached to this Agreement as Schedule
“A” (the “Schedule of
Responsibilities”). Employee shall fully, faithfully,
diligently and competently render the services and perform the
duties described in the Schedule of Responsibilities and such other
duties not inconsistent therewith that may be assigned to Employee
from time to time by the Company. Employee shall conform to and
comply with the lawful and reasonable directions and instructions
given to Employee by the Company.
(c) Employee shall devote
Employee’s full time, attention and energies to the business
of the Company during Company working hours. Employee shall use
Employee’s best efforts to further enhance and develop the
best interests and welfare of the Company. The Company shall be
entitled to all of the benefits, profits and other results arising
from or incident to all work, services and advice of
Employee.
(d) Employee shall not be employed
or engaged in any other business activity, whether or not such
activity is pursued for gain, profit, or other pecuniary advantage,
without the prior written consent of the Company.
(e) The Company will advise Employee
of its corporate rules, policies and procedures then in effect and
as may be amended or adopted by the Company from time to time in
the Company’s sole and absolute discretion (the
“Company Policies”). Employee shall comply with all
Company Policies. If there are any inconsistencies between any term
of this Agreement and any of the Company Policies, this Agreement
shall govern and control.
2. Period of
Employment . Employee’s employment by the Company
shall be for a period of three (3) years, commencing on the
Effective Date and ending not later than three (3) years after
the Effective Date, unless earlier terminated pursuant to
Section 6 of this Agreement (the “Employment
Period”).
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3. Compensation . For
services rendered to and duties performed by Employee for the
Company during the Employment Period pursuant to the terms and
conditions of this Agreement, the Company will offer to Employee
such compensation and benefits specifically set forth in the
Compensation Schedule attached to this Agreement as Schedule
“B” (collectively, the
“Compensation”).
4. Business Expenses .
The Company, pursuant to its Company Policies, will reimburse
Employee for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred within the
scope of Employee’s employment in carrying out
Employee’s services and duties under this Agreement, provided
that such expenses are (a) deductible by the Company to the
maximum extent permitted under the relevant rules and regulations
of the Internal Revenue Code, (b) incurred and submitted for
reimbursement in accordance with the Company Policies, and
(c) evidenced by itemized and documented accounting of such
expenditures.
5. Withholdings . The
Company shall deduct and withhold from all compensation payable to
Employee hereunder, including, without limitation, the
Compensation, all applicable federal, state and local income and
employment withholding taxes and any other amounts required to be
deducted or withheld by the Company under applicable statutes,
regulations, ordinances, or orders governing or requiring the
withholding or deduction of amounts otherwise payable as
compensation or wages to Employee.
6. Termination
.
(a) Termination for Cause .
The Company shall have the right to terminate Employee’s
employment for “Cause” (as defined below) at any time,
without prior notice. In the event of termination of
Employee’s employment for Cause, all rights of Employee (and
Employee’s dependents and legal representatives) under
Sections 1, 2 and 3 of this Agreement shall cease as of the date of
such termination. For purposes of this Agreement, termination for
“Cause” by the Company will include a determination
made by the Company in its discretion that Employee:
(1) has been convicted of or pled
guilty or nolo contendere to (i) a felony or misdemeanor
involving moral turpitude that is likely to impair Employee’s
ability to perform under this Agreement or otherwise have a
significant adverse effect upon the Company, any of its affiliates,
or any of their businesses or reputations, or (ii) a felony or
misdemeanor which results in a term of incarceration in any
correctional institution;
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(2) has committed or conspired to
commit an act of dishonesty, theft, gross carelessness, or other
misconduct against the Company or any of its affiliates;
(3) has engaged in the use of
alcohol during working hours or at any facilities of the Company or
any of its affiliates or has engaged in the use of any illegal drug
or intoxicant, or distributed or conspired to distribute any such
substance, or engaged in the abuse of any prescription drug to the
extent that it may cause damage to the reputation of the
Company;
(4) has committed or conspired to
commit any act or series of acts that constitute harassment or
discrimination based on an unlawful classification;
(5) has willfully committed or
conspired to commit any act or series of acts without approval by
the Company’s Board of Directors which would likely have a
significant adverse effect on the Company, any of its affiliates,
or any of their businesses or reputations;
(6) has engaged in a willful or
negligent failure to perform duties or services for the
Company;
(7) has improperly used or
disclosed, or conspired to improperly use or disclose, confidential
or proprietary information of the Company or any of its affiliates;
or
(8) has committed any act or
omission that constitutes a material breach by Employee of any of
Employee’s obligations or agreements under this Agreement,
but only after the Company has provided notice of such breach to
Employee and Employee fails or refuses to correct such breach
within ten (10) days of such notice; provided, however, that
no prior notice is required for any event set forth in conditions
(1) through (7), inclusive, of this
Section 6(a).
(b) Termination Due to Death or
Disability . If Employee, due to physical or mental disability
or incapacity as determined by the Company in its discretion, is
unable to perform Employee’s duties under this Agreement the
Company shall have the right to terminate Employee’s
employment on thirty (30) days’ prior written notice. If
Employee is able to and recommences rendering services and
performing Employee’s duties under this Agreement within such
thirty (30)-day notice period, such notice shall be deemed to have
been withdrawn. In addition, in the event of Employee’s death
or disability, Employee or Employee’s personal
representatives, as the case may be, shall be entitled to receive
all earned but unpaid compensation through the date of termination
on a pro rated basis.
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(c) Termination Without Cause
. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, the Company shall have
the right to terminate Employee’s employment without Cause or
for any or no reason, at any time, effective immediately upon
notice to Employee. If the Company exercises its rights under this
Section 6(c) during the Employment Period and provided that
Employee sign a release and waiver acceptable to the Company in its
discretion, the Company will pay to Employee as severance, an
amount equal to the greater of (i) the aggregate annual base
salary for the remainder of the term of employment hereunder,
provided that such amount shall not exceed two
(2) years’ base annual salary or (ii) the
Employee’s annual base salary. In the event of termination of
Employee’s employment pursuant to this Section 6(c), all
rights of Employee (and Employee’s dependents and legal
representatives) under Sections 1, 2 and 3 of this Agreement shall
cease as of the date of such termination. Notwithstanding anything
to the contrary in the foregoing, severance payment(s) made under
this paragraph 6(c) are intended to be in lieu of, and not in
addition to any severance payment made under the Change-in-Control
Severance Agreement attached hereto as Schedule E . Thus, if
Employee qualifies for a severance payment under the
Change-in-Control Severance Agreement, then he shall not be
entitled to payment for severance under this paragraph.
7. Disclosures and Assignment
of Rights .
(a) Employee hereby agrees promptly
to disclose to the Company and Employee hereby, without further
compensation, assigns and agrees to assign to the Company or its
designees, Employee’s entire right, title, and interest in
and to all designs, trademarks, logos, business plans, business
models, business names, economic projections, product innovations,
discoveries, formulae, processes, manufacturing techniques, trade
secrets, customer lists, supplier lists, inventions, research,
improvements, ideas, know-how, patents, service marks, and
copyrightable works (collectively, “Inventions”),
including, without limitation, all rights to obtain, register,
perfect and enforce all Inventions, which relate to
Employee’s work for the Company, whether or not during normal
working hours, or which are aided by the use of Company experience,
time, material, equipment, or facilities; it being understood,
however, that no rights are hereby conveyed in Inventions, if any,
made by Employee prior to Employee’s employment with the
Company and disclosed pursuant to Section 7(c) of this
Agreement.
(b) Employee agrees to perform,
during and after the Employment Period, all acts deemed necessary
or desirable by the Company to permit and assist it, at its
reasonable expense, including execution of documents and assistance
and cooperation in legal proceedings, in obtaining and enforcing
the full benefits, enjoyments, rights and title in the items
assigned to the Company as set forth in Section 7(a) of this
Agreement.
(c) Except as specifically set forth
in the Disclosure of Inventions attached to this Agreement as
Schedule “C” (or if nothing is listed therein),
there are no Inventions that Employee wishes to exclude from the
operation of Section 7(a) or 7(b) of this
Agreement.
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(d) Employee understands, and hereby
acknowledges having received notice, that Sections 7(a) and
(b) of this Agreement do not apply to an invention which
qualifies fully under the provisions of California Labor Code
Section 2780, which is substantially set forth in Schedule
“D” attached to this Agreement.
8. Conflicts of
Interest . Employee recognizes that Employee owes a primary
and fiduciary duty to the Company and that Employee shall not have
any interest, financial or otherwise, direct or indirect, or engage
in any business or transaction of any nature, which is in conflict
with the proper and faithful discharge of Employee’s duties
and services as an employee of the Company. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, Employee shall not, while employed by
the Company, directly or indirectly:
(a) be employed by or receive any
compensation from a customer, supplier or competitor of the Company
or any of its affiliates;
(b) have any ownership or financial
interest of any nature in a customer, supplier or competitor of the
Company or an of its affiliates, except where such ownership is
stock in a corporation and consists of less than one percent
(1%) of the outstanding capital stock of the corporation and
where such stock is publicly traded and listed on a recognized
stock exchange or actively traded in the over-the-counter
market;
(c) have or participate in any
dealings on behalf of the Company with a customer, supplier or
competitor of the Company or any of its affiliates that employs, or
more than five percent (5%) of whose ownership interest is
beneficially held by, Employee’s spouse or any brother,
sister, parent, child or grandchild of Employee or Employee’s
spouse, or any person living in Employee’s household or the
spouse of any of the foregoing persons;
(d) engage or participate in any
activity, business enterprise, business opportunity, employment,
occupation, consulting, or other business activity which the
Company shall reasonably determine to be, or reasonably planned to
be, in competition with the Company or any of its affiliates, or to
interfere with Employee’s duties as an employee of the
Company; or
(e) solicit, accept or receive any
gift, (whether in the form of money, service, loan, hospitality
(except for ordinary business meals), thing or promise, or in any
other form) having a value such that it could reasonably be
inferred that the gift was intended to influence Employee, in the
performance of Employee’s duties on behalf of the Company or
was intended as a reward for any action on Employee’s part on
behalf of the Company, unless such fact or activity is first fully
disclosed in writing to the Company and the Company first approves
in writing of such fact or activity.
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9. Information of
Others . Employee certifies and acknowledges that Employee
will not disclose or utilize in Employee’s work with the
Company any secret or confidential information of others (including
any prior employers), or any inventions or innovations of
Employee’s own which are not included within the scope of
this Agreement.
10. Confidential
Information . The Company and/or one or more of its
affiliates may, from time to time, provide Employee with
confidential information, proprietary information, or trade secrets
regarding the Company and/or one or more of its affiliates,
including, without limitation, information regarding business
methods, plan, products, pricing, customer lists, and other
confidential customer information, including, but not limited to,
contact names, purchasing authority(ies), product, know-how and/or
customer service requirements, buying patterns and other
proprietary information (collectively, “Confidential
Information”). Except in furtherance of the Company’s
business and without the Company’s prior written consent,
Employee shall not, directly or indirectly, disclose, use,
communicate, appropriate, or exploit any Confidential Information
during the Employment Period and thereafter.
11. intentionally omitted
12. Non-Raiding .
Employee will not, either during the Employment Period or for a
period of one (1) year thereafter, either directly or
indirectly, hire, solicit, induce or attempt to induce or encourage
any of the Company’ employees, agents, or contractors to
cease or limit providing services to the Company. Employee
represents and warrants that Employee’s experience and
abilities are such that compliance with the covenants contained in
this Section 12 will not cause any undue hardship or
unreasonable restriction on Employee’s ability to earn a
livelihood.
13. Return of Property
. Employee agrees that upon request by the Company, and in any
event upon termination of employment, Employee shall turn over to
the Company all Confidential Information, Inventions, documents,
notes, papers, and other material in whatever media relating to the
Company in Employee’s possession or control, together with
all material, documents, notes, pagers, and other work product in
whatever media which is connected with or derived from
Employee’s services to the Company.
14. Remedies .
Employee recognizes and acknowledges that a breach of any provision
under Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and/or 13 of this Agreement could
not reasonably be compensated in damages in an action at law and
that the Company and/or any of its affiliates shall be entitled to
injunctive relief obtainable in a court of competent jurisdiction,
which may include, but shall not be limited to, restraining
Employee from rendering any service which would breach
this
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Agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no
remedy conferred by any of the specific provisions of this
Agreement, including, without limitation, this Section 14, is
intended to be exclusive of any other remedy, and each and every
remedy shall be cumulative and in addition to every other remedy
given under this Agreement now or hereafter existing at law or in
equity or by statute or otherwise. The election of any one or more
remedies by the Company and/or any of its affiliates shall not
constitute a waiver of the right to pursue other available
remedies. These obligations shall survive the termination of
Employee’s employment.
15. Arbitration .
Except as provided in this Section 15, any and all claims
between Employee and the Company, any of its affiliates and/or any
of their respective directors, officers, employees or agents that
arise out of Employee’s employment, including, without
limitation, disputes involving the terms of this Agreement,
Employee’s employment by the Company or the termination
thereof, claims for breach of contract or breach of the covenant of
good faith and fair dealing, and any claims of discrimination or
other claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Americans With
Disabilities Act, the California Fair Employment and Housing Act,
or any other federal, state or local law or regulation now in
existence or hereinafter enacted and as amended from time to time
concerning in any way the subject of Employee’s employment
with the Company or Employee’s termination, shall be resolved
through final and binding arbitration. The only claims not
covered by this Section 15 are claims for equitable relief for
violation of any provision under Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and/or 13
of this Agreement and claims for benefits under the workers’
compensation or unemployment insurance laws, which will be resolved
pursuant to those laws. Notices of requests to arbitrate a covered
claim must be made within the applicable statute of limitations.
Binding arbitration will be conducted in Orange County, California
in accordance with the rules and regulations of the American
Arbitration Association (“AAA”). Discovery may be
carried out under the supervision of the arbitrator appointed
pursuant to the rules of the AAA. Employee will be responsible for
paying the same fee to initiate the arbitration that Employee would
pay to file a civil lawsuit. The Company will pay any remaining
cost of the arbitration filing and hearing fees, including the cost
of the arbitrator; each side will bear its own attorneys’
fees, that is, the arbitrator will not have authority to award
attorneys’ fees unless a statutory section at issue in the
dispute authorizes the award of attorneys’ fees to the
prevailing party, in which case the arbitrator has authority to
make such award as permitted by the statute in question.
16. Miscellaneous
.
(a) Survival . Sections 1, 2
and 3 of this Agreement, inclusive, shall terminate upon
termination of Employee’s employment with the Company, and
all other provisions of this Agreement shall survive such
termination and be enforceable in accordance with their
terms.
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(b) Attorneys’ Fees .
In the event that an action or proceeding is brought to enforce any
provision under Sections 7, 8, 9, 10, 12 and/or 13 of this
Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its
reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs from the non-prevailing
party.
(c) Waiver of Breach . The
waiver by the Company of any breach of any provision herein shall
not be binding upon the Company unless in writing signed by the
Company, and shall not constitute a continuing waiver or a waiver
of any subsequent breach by Employee.
(d) Assignment . Neither this
Agreement nor any of the parties’ rights and obligations
hereunder may be assigned by a party without the prior written
consent of the other party hereto; provided, however, that the
Company may assign any or all of its rights and obligations under
this Agreement to (i) an affiliate of the Company, or
(ii) a surviving entity in connection with a merger or
consolidation involving the Company or a purchase or sale of all or
substantially all of the Company’s assets, so long as such
surviving entity assumes the Company’s obligations under this
Agreement.
(e) Entire Agreement; Oral
Statement Not Binding . This Agreement taken together with the
offer letter dated as of the date hereof contains the entire
agreement of the parties relating to the subject matter hereof and
may not be waived, changed, modified, extended or discharged
orally, but only by agreement specifically referencing this
Agreement that is signed by the party against whom enforcement of
any such waiver, change, modification, extension or discharge is
sought. This Agreement may not be modified or amended unless in
writing and signed by both Employee and the Company, acting through
its Chief Executive Officer or President.
(f) Severability . If any
provision of this Agreement as applied to any party or to any
circumstance should be adjudged by a court of competent
jurisdiction or arbitrator, as the case may be, to be void or
unenforceable for any reason, the invalidity of that provision
shall in no way affect (to the maximum extent permissible by law)
the application of such provision under circumstances different
from those adjudicated by the court or arbitrator, the application
of any other provision of this Agreement, or the enforceability or
invalidity of this Agreement as a whole. Should any provision of
this Agreement become or be deemed invalid, illegal or
unenforceable in any jurisdiction by reason of the scope, extent or
duration of its coverage, then such provision shall be deemed
amended to the extent necessary to conform to applicable law so as
to be valid and enforceable or, if such provision cannot be so
amended without materially altering the intention of the parties,
then such provision will be stricken and the remainder of this
Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
(g) Applicable Law . This
Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the
domestic laws of the State of California without giving effect to
any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the
State of California or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the
application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than the State of
California.
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(h) Notice . All notices and
other communications hereunder shall be in writing and shall be
deemed duly given and delivered if delivered by messenger, or
mailed by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, return
receipt requested, to the parties at the addresses set forth below
(or at such other addresses for a party as shall be specified by
like notice) and shall be deemed given on the date on which so
delivered by messenger or three (3) days following the date on
which so mailed.
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If to the Company:
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4695 MacArthur
Boulevard, Suite 1250
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Newport Beach,
California 92660
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Attn: Chief
Executive Officer or President
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With copy
to:
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Attn: General
Counsel
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If to
Employee :
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[ ]
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[ ],
or
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at such other
last k
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