EXHIBIT 10.6
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
THIS
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (“Agreement”), made on this 1
st day of October, 2009, by and between Whispering Oaks
International, Inc. d/b/a/ BioCurex (“Company”), and
Dr. Ricardo Moro (“Employee”).
RECITALS:
A. Employee
has been a valued employee of the Company since April
2001.
B. The
Company possesses and will possess technology, which may benefit
significantly from the knowledge and skills of the
Employee.
C. The
Company desires to continue Employee’s employment with the
Company as President and Chief Executive Officer under the terms
stated in this agreement.
AGREEMENT:
NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual benefits contained
herein, the sufficiency of which the parties acknowledge, the
parties hereby agree as follows:
1.
Employment Term. The term of employment (“Term”)
shall commence on the date written above and shall continue until
December 31, 2013 (the “Final Date”), unless sooner
terminated in accordance with Section 12.
2. Duties.
Employee shall be responsible to perform such duties as assigned to
him from time to time by the Board of Directors of the Company
(“Board”). Employee shall devote his best efforts to
the service of the Company throughout the Term. Employee shall
devote at his entire business time to the affairs of the Company
provided that Employee may devote such time as is required to
manage the affairs of Pacific BioScience Research Centre, Inc.
(“PBRC”). Employee and Company acknowledge and agree
that (i) Employee may hold certain offices within certain entities
as set forth on Exhibit A to this Agreement, (ii) Employee’s
devotion of reasonable amounts of time in such capacities, so long
as it does not interfere with his performance of services
hereunder, shall not conflict with the terms of this Agreement and
(iii) Exhibit A may be amended from time to time by agreement of
the parties.
3. Compensation.
During
the Term the Company shall compensate Employee at an initial annual
compensation of $250,000 (the “Base Compensation”). The
Company and Employee acknowledge that Employee is also employed as
the President of PBRC and that pursuant to a services agreement by
and between the Company and PBRC dated as of October 1, 2009 (the
“Services Agreement”), PBRC is providing certain
services to the Company, for which the Company is compensating PBRC
on the basis of cost plus a Cost Adjustment (as defined therein).
The Company shall be given a credit against the Base Compensation
payable to the Employee in an amount equal to the amount of the
aggregate Cost Adjustment paid to PBRC. On the 25 th day
following the end of each calendar quarter, beginning with the
quarter ended
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December 31, 2009, if the Company
has not paid to PBRC as the Cost Adjustment an amount for such
calendar quarter in the aggregate of at least $62,500 the amount of
such deficiency shall be paid to Employee. All such compensation
shall be payable in accordance with Company’s payroll
practices in effect from time to time, and less amounts required to
be withheld under applicable law and requested to be withheld by
Employee. Employee’s Base compensation shall be subject to
review on an annual basis. The Company may, but shall not be
required to, pay bonus compensation to Employee. In determining the
amount of any bonus to be paid to the Employee, consideration will
be given to the amount of compensation the Employee receives from
PBRC. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, the Base
Compensation shall be prorated for any period of service less than
a full month.
4. Expenses.
The Company will reimburse Employee
for all expenses reasonably incurred by him in discharging his
duties for the Company, conditioned upon Employee’s
submission of written documentation in support of claimed
reimbursement of such expenses, and consistent with the
Company’s expense reimbursement policies in effect from time
to time.
5. Benefits.
Subject to eligibility requirements,
Employee shall be entitled to participate in such benefit plans and
programs as adopted by the Company from time to time.
6. Confidentiality.
(a) In
the course of his employment with the Company, it is anticipated
that Employee may acquire knowledge (both orally and in writing)
regarding confidential affairs of the Company and confidential or
proprietary information including: (i) matters of a technical
nature, such as know-how, inventions, processes, products, designs,
chemicals, compounds, materials, drawings, concepts, formulas,
trade secrets, secret processes or machines, inventions or research
projects: (ii), markets, sales, suppliers, customers, plans for
future development, plans for future products, marketing plans or
strategies; and (iii) other information of a similar nature which
is not generally disclosed by the Company to the public, referred
to collectively hereafter as “Confidential
Information.” “Confidential Information” shall
not include information generally available to the public. Employee
agrees that during the term of this Agreement and thereafter, he
(1) will keep secret and retain in the strictest confidence all
Confidential Information, (2) not disclose Confidential Information
to anyone except employees of the Company authorized to received it
and third parties to whom such disclosure is specifically
authorized, and (3) not use any Confidential Information for any
purpose other than performance of services under this Agreement
without prior written permission from the Company.
(b) If
Employee is served with any subpoena or other compulsory judicial
or administrative process calling for production or disclosure of
Confidential Information or if Employee is otherwise required by
law or regulation to disclose Confidential Information, Employee
will immediately, and prior to production or disclosure, notify the
Company and provide it with such information as may be necessary in
order that the Company may take such action as it deems necessary
to protect its interest.
(c) The
provisions of this paragraph 6 shall survive termination of this
Agreement.
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(d) Notwithstanding
anything contained hereinto the contrary, if PBRC becomes a
licensee of any of the Company’s technology, Employee may use
the Confidential Information in connection with any services
Employee may provide to PBRC and disclose any Confidential
Information to any sublicense of PBS, provided the sublicensee
agrees to be bound by this Section 6.
7. Non-Competition.
(a) Employee
agrees that during the Term and for a period of two (2) years
following termination of employment with the Company for any
reason, he will not directly or indirectly engage in any activity
directed toward the development, sale or marketing of any cancer
markers for screening, diagnostic, or follow-up
purposes.
(b) Employee
agrees that during the Term and for a period of two (2) years
following termination of employment with the Company for any
reason, he will not directly or indirectly engage in any activity
as defined in any patents or patent applications filed or
Contemplated at any time during the Term. Patents or patent
applications “Contemplated” are those included,
recorded or discussed in the notebooks of researchers employed by
or performing services on behalf of the Company.
(c) For
a period of two (2) years following termination of employment with
the Company for any reason, except with the express written consent
of the Company, Employee agrees to refrain from directly or
indirectly recruiting, hiring or assisting anyone else to hire, or
otherwise counseling to discontinue employment with the Company,
any person then employed by the Company or its subsidiaries or
affiliates.
(d) The
provision of this paragraph 7 shall survive termination of this
Agreement and the term of employment.
(e) Notwithstanding
the above:
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(i) this
Section will no longer apply if this Agreement is terminated
pursuant to Section 12(b) or the Employee voluntarily terminates
his employment for Good Reason, as that term is defined in Section
13(f);
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(ii) this
Section will no longer apply if the Services Agreement between the
Company and PBS is terminated pursuant to Sections 3.3 or 3.4 of
the Services Agreement;
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(iii) if
PBS is a licensee of the Company, and granting Employee acting as
an employee will not constitute a violation of this Section
7.
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8. Covered
Work.
(a) All
rights, title and interest to any Covered Work that Employee makes
or conceives (whether alone or with others) while consulting for
the Company, belong to the Company. This Agreement operates as an
actual assignment of all rights in Covered Work to the Company.
“Covered Work” means products and Inventions that
relate to the actual or anticipated business of the Company or any
of its subsidiaries or affiliates, or that result from or are
suggested by a task assigned to Employee or work performed by
Employee on behalf of the Company or any of its subsidiaries or
affiliates, or that were developed in whole or in part on the
Company time or using the Company’s equipment, supplies or
facilities.