Exhibit 10.10
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
THIS
EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT dated as of the 1st day of
July, 2004 by and
between NETWOLVES CORPORATION, a New York corporation (hereinafter the
"Company") and Walter R. Groteke, an
individual residing at 1368 Landmark Trail,
Palm Harbor, FL 34684 (hereinafter called
"Groteke").
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS,
the Company
desires to enter into
an Employment
Agreement with
Groteke; and
WHEREAS,
Groteke desires to enter into an
Employment Agreement
with the
Company;
NOW, THEREFORE,
it is agreed as follows:
1. Prior
Agreements Superseded.
This Agreement
supersedes any employment,
consulting or other agreements, oral or written, entered into between Groteke
and the Company prior to the date of this
Agreement except for equity awards
previously granted to Groteke, which stock options shall continue
in full force
and effect.
2. Employment. The Company hereby agrees to employ Groteke and Groteke
hereby agrees to serve as Vice-President-Sales of the
Company with commensurate
responsibilities and to perform such services as dictated by the Board of
Directors. Groteke's employment hereunder shall be on a full-time
basis and
Groteke shall not engage in any other
business, except with the prior approval
of the Board of Directors of the Company. Groteke shall serve in similar
capacities of such of the subsidiary corporations of the Company as may be
selected by the Board of Directors without additional compensation.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is understood that the duties of Groteke
during the performance of employment shall
not be inconsistent with his position
and title as Vice-President-Sales of the
Company.
3. Term. Subject to earlier termination on the terms and conditions
hereinafter provided, the term of this Employment
Agreement shall end on
June
30, 2009, provided that this agreement shall extend for additional one-year
periods unless Groteke receives written notice from the
Company each year on or
before April 1 of said year that the
Company will be terminating the agreement.
In no event, however, shall this agreement
extend beyond June 30, 2011.
4. Compensation.
For all services rendered by Groteke under this Agreement,
compensation shall be paid to Groteke as
follows:
(a) Groteke
shall be paid at the
annual rate of One
Hundred
Seventy-Five
Thousand ($175,000) Dollars.
(b) During the period of employment Groteke shall be eligible to
participate in the Company's stock option
and stock purchase plans to the extent
determined in the discretion of the Board of Directors of the Company or
committee thereof.
(c) Groteke
shall be entitled to participate in any short-term or long-term
incentive plan which the Company has in
existence or which may be adopted.
(d) During the
period of employment, Groteke shall be furnished with office
space and secretarial service and
facilities
commensurate with his position and
adequate for the performance of his
duties.
<PAGE>
(e) Groteke
shall be entitled to fully participate in all benefit
programs
available to executive employees of the Company throughout the term of this
Agreement.
(f) Groteke
shall be entitled to four (4) weeks of vacation and sick leaves
consistent with current practice of the
Company.
5. Expenses.
Groteke shall be
reimbursed for all
out-of-pocket
expenses,
including medical expenses, reasonably
incurred by him in the performance of his
duties hereunder. Expense reports, with receipts and justifications, must be
submitted to the Chairman of the Board for
approval.
6. Severance
Benefits. Groteke
shall be entitled to the severance benefits
provided for in subsection (c) hereof in the event of the
termination
of his
employment by the Company without cause or in the event of a voluntary
termination of employment by Groteke for good
reason. In such event,
Groteke
shall have no duty to mitigate damages hereunder. Groteke and the Company
acknowledge that the foregoing provisions
of this paragraph 6 are reasonable and
are based upon the facts and circumstances of the parties at the time of
entering into this Agreement, and with this Agreement, and with due regard to
future expectations.
(a) The term
"cause" shall mean:
(i) Groteke's willful and continued failure to substantially
perform his
duties under this Agreement (other than any such failure
resulting from his
incapacity due to physical or mental illness) after demand for substantial
performance is delivered to Groteke by the
Chairman of the Board of the Company
which specifically identifies the manner in
which the Board believes Groteke has
not substantially performed his duties.
(ii) Groteke's
failure to refuse to
follow directions
from the Company's
Board of Directors provided that (a) Groteke is
provided written notice of such
directions and a reasonable period in which to comply and (b) Groteke's
compliance with any such direction would
not be illegal or unlawful.
(iii) Any act or
fraud, embezzlement or
theft committed by Groteke whether
or not in connection with his duties or in the course
of his employment
which
substantially impairs his ability to
perform his duties hereunder.
(iv) Any willful
disclosure by Groteke of confidential information or trade
secrets of the Company or its
affiliates.
For purposes of
this paragraph, no act
or failure to act on Groteke's part
shall be considered "willful" unless done,
or omitted to be done, by Groteke not
in good faith and without reasonable belief that his action or omission
was in
the best interest of the Company.
Notwithstanding the
foregoing, Groteke
shall
not be deemed to have been terminated for cause unless and until there shall
have been delivered to him a copy of a
notice of termination
from the Chairman
of the Board of the Company after reasonable notice to Groteke and an
opportunity for Groteke with his counsel to be heard before the Board of
Directors of the Company finding that in
the good faith opinion of such Board of
Directors Groteke was guilty of the conduct
set forth in clauses
(i), (ii) or
(iii) of this paragraph and specifying the
particulars thereof in detail.
<PAGE>
(b) For these
purposes, Groteke
shall have "good reason" to terminate this
Agreement if:
(i) the Company
removes Groteke from
the position of
Vice-President-Sales
at any time during the term of this
Agreement;
(ii) Groteke's
place of employment is moved beyond a fifty-mile radius from
the Company's current facility in Tampa,
Florida; or