EXHIBIT 10.9
AMENDED AND
RESTATED
EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
THIS AMENDED
AND RESTATED EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), made and entered
into as of the 22nd day of June 2009, by and between:
|
|
|
PETER J.
PRYGELSKI , an individual
of Coral Springs, Florida (the “Employee”)
and
|
|
|
|
21ST CENTURY
HOLDING COMPANY , a
Florida corporation with offices and place of business in
Lauderdale Lakes, Florida (the “Company”).
|
All capitalized
terms which are not defined herein shall have the same meaning as
defined terms in Appendix A, which is attached hereto and
incorporated herein as reference.
PRELIMINARY
STATEMENT
WHEREAS , the Company is engaged in the
insurance business and desires to employ Employee and to secure for
the Company the benefit of Employee’s experience, efforts and
abilities in connection with the business of the Company, all as
provided herein; and
WHEREAS , the Company has and will continue to expend
substantial resources in connection with the aforementioned
endeavors; and
WHEREAS , Employee and Company are parties to
that certain employment agreement dated July 1, 2008 ("Prior
Employment Agreement"), setting forth the terms and conditions of
Employee's service to the Company as Chief Financial Officer, among
other services, and the Company's compensation of Employee in
connection therewith; and
WHEREAS , the Company and Employee desire to amend and
restate the Prior Employment Agreement to include the additional
terms and conditions set forth herein; and
NOW ,
THEREFORE , in consideration of the premises and mutual
covenants herein contained and for other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby
acknowledged, the parties hereto hereby agree as
follows:
1.
Employment. The Company and the Employee entered
into the Prior Employment Agreement, effective as of July 1, 2008,
and wish to amend and restate the Prior Employment Agreement on the
terms and conditions set forth herein. The Employee
agrees that the Prior Employment Agreement is terminated and all
terms of his employment with the Company are stated in this
Agreement, except as set forth in the Non-Compete Agreement (as
defined in Section 6)
2.
Term of Employment. The Employee shall serve as
the Company's Chief Financial Officer and be employed for a period
of three years from June 22, 2009 through July 1, 2012 (this period
of employment may be referred to as the “Term of this
Agreement”).
3.
Duties of Employee. So long as employed
hereunder, Employee agrees to devote Employee’s full business
time and energy to the business and affairs of the Company, to
perform Employee’s duties hereunder effectively, diligently
and to the best of Employee’s ability and to use
Employee’s best efforts, skill and abilities to promote the
Company’s interests. Employee’s duties shall
include, but are not limited to management functions for the
Company, as well as providing any other reasonable services as may
be determined by the Company from time to time in the
Company’s reasonable discretion, provided such services do
not violate any applicable laws or regulations.
4.
Compensation. For all services to be rendered by
Employee to the Company during the Term of this Agreement, the
Company agrees to compensate Employee and Employee agrees to accept
from Employer, the following compensation:
(a)
Base Salary. The Company agrees to pay Employee
(i) an annual salary of One Hundred Eighty Thousand Dollars
($180,000) per year, payable biweekly, subject to applicable
withholding and other taxes (which annual salary may be increased
by the Compensation Committee, in its sole discretion at any time
during the Term of this Agreement) and (ii) "and (ii) any
additional compensation , as determined by the Compensation
Committee in it's sole discretion.
(b)
Medical Insurance. So long as Employee is
employed by the Company, the Company agrees to provide medical
insurance coverage at no cost for the Employee (plus family)
commensurate with the coverage provided by the Company for other
similarly situated employees.
(c)
Automobile Allowance . Throughout the Term of
this Agreement, the Company will pay Employee an automobile
allowance in a minimum amount of $500 per month. Such
automobile allowance shall be for no more than one automobile and
shall include all expenses related thereto, including, without
limitation, lease expenses, maintenance and insurance.
(d)
Vacation/Personal Time . Employee shall be
entitled to reasonable vacations and/or personal time off during
each year of the Term of this Agreement.
5.
Termination of Employment.
(a)
Termination by the Company for Cause . If Employee’s
employment with the Company is terminated for Cause, the Employee
shall be entitled to Employee’s base weekly salary (as
provided in Section 4(a) above) prorated only through the date of
the termination of employment.
(b)
Termination by the Company without Cause . If
during the Term of this Agreement the Employee’s employment
is terminated by the Company without Cause, the Company will make a
lump sum payment, no later than 10 days following such termination,
to the Employee in an amount equal two years' base salary (the
"Termination Severance"). Additionally, the Company will
accelerate all unvested stock options and any other equity awards
held by the Employee at the time of termination and Employee shall
have no less than 90 days to exercise any outstanding options;
provided, however, in no event shall an option be exercisable
beyond its stated term.
(c)
Death . In the event of the Employee's death,
this Agreement shall automatically terminate as of the date of such
death without notice to either party.
(d)
Disability . In the event that the Employee shall
be unable to perform his duties hereunder by virtue of illness or
physical or mental disability (from any cause or causes whatsoever)
in substantially the manner and to the extent required of him
hereunder prior to the commencement of such disability and the
Employee shall fail to perform such duties for a period
of thirty (30) or more days, whether or not continuous,
in any continuous one hundred and twenty (120) day period, then the
Company shall have the right to terminate this Agreement and the
Employee's employment with the Company as of the end of any
calendar month during the continuance of such disability upon at
least fifteen (15) days' prior written notice to the
Employee. Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the event
that the Company maintains a long-term disability policy for the
benefit of the Employee (regardless of who pays the premium) the
Company shall have the right to terminate this agreement pursuant
to this Section 5(d) only if the Employee is determined to be
disabled for purposes of collecting disability benefits under such
long term disability policy.
(e)
Change of Control . If Employee is employed with
the Company on the date on which a Change of Control occurs (the
“Change of Control Date”), and if during the remaining
Term of this Agreement after the Change of Control Date
Employee’s employment is terminated by the Company (or any
successor or subsidiary) without Cause or by the Employee for Good
Reason, the Company will make a lump sum payment to the Employee in
an amount equal to two times the sum of the Employee's base salary
in effect immediately prior to the Change of Control plus the
actual bonus earned by the Employee in the fiscal year immediately
preceding the Change of Control (the "Change of Control
Severance"). This payment shall be made to the Employee
within five (5) days following such termination of
employment. Additionally, the Company will accelerate
all unvested stock options and any other equity awards held by the
Employee at the time of such termination and Employee shall have no
less than 90 days to exercise any outstanding options; provided,
however, in no event shall an option be exercisable beyond its
stated term. In addition, the Company shall continue to
provide Employee (and his Family) with medical insurance (as
described in Section 4(b) hereof) for a period of two years after
the date of such termination of employment at no cost to the
Executive and on the same terms and conditions as in effect on the
date on which such termination of employment occurs (the "Extended
Medical Coverage"). Following such Extended Medical
Coverage, Employee (and his Family) shall be entitled to extended
coverage under the terms of COBRA. All obligation
of the Company following a Change of Control shall be assumed by
the acquirer or successor entity of the Company.
(f)
Termination Within Six Months Prior to a Change of Control
. In the event that Employee is terminated by the
Company without Cause prior to a Change of Control and a Change of
Control occurs within six months following such termination, then
in addition to the Termination Severance made to Employee pursuant
to Section 5(b) of this Agreement, the Employee shall be entitled
to an additional lump sum payment in an amount equal to (i) the
Change of Control Severance, less (ii) the Termination
Severance. Such additional payment shall be made by the
acquirer or successor entity of the Company within five (5) days
following the Change of Control. In addition, the
acquirer or successor entity of the Company shall provide the
Employee (and his family) the Extended Medical Coverage described
in Section 5(e) beginning on the date of the Change of
Control. Employee (and his Family) shall be entitled to
extended coverage under the terms of COBRA following the Extended
Medical Coverage.
(g)
Resignation. If the Employee voluntarily resigns
his employment with the Company with less than 2 weeks advanced
notice, the Employee’s compensation shall be reduced one day
for each day the advanced notice is less than two
weeks. Also, the Employee agrees to reimburse the
Company, if necessary to comply with this provision.
6.
Non-Solicitation of Company Employees Agreement.
Employee acknowledges and agrees that his covenants and
obligations contained in his Non-Compete Agreement with the Company
dated June 25, 2007 (the "Non-Compete Agreement") are in full force
and effect and will continue to apply. Employee agrees
that for the period that Employee is employed by the Com