EMPLOYMENT
AGREEMENT
THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
(“Agreement”), made and entered into as of October 31,
2006 (the “Effective Date”) by and between Harvey
Clapp, a resident of the State of Alabama (“Employee”),
and Peachtree Bank, an Alabama bank
(“Employer”).
W I T N E S S E T H:
WHEREAS, Employer desires to employ Employee as
its President and Chief Executive Officer and Employee desires to
accept such employment;
NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the
employment of Employee by Employer, of the premises and the mutual
promises and covenants contained herein, and of other good and
valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are
hereby acknowledged, the parties hereto, intending to be legally
bound, agree as follows:
1.1
Position. Employer hereby employs Employee to serve as
its President and Chief Executive Officer and to perform such
duties and responsibilities as are customarily performed by persons
acting in such capacity. During the term of this Agreement (as
defined in Section 2 herein), Employee will devote substantially
all of his full time and effort to his duties hereunder.
1.2 Other
Business Activities. The parties agree that the Employee shall
be free to engage in other non-competitive business activities and
ventures during the term of this Agreement, so long as any such
other business activities and ventures do not conflict or compete
with the business of Employer or prevent the Employee from the
faithful performance of his duties hereunder.
Subject to the provisions of Section 12 of this
Agreement, the period of Employee’s employment under this
Agreement shall be deemed to have commenced as of the Effective
Date, and shall continue for a period of three (3) years, unless
the Employee dies before the end of such three (3) years, in which
case the period of employment shall continue until the end of the
month of such death.
For all
services to be rendered by Employee during the term of this
Agreement,
3.1 Base
Salary. Employer shall pay Employee an annual base salary
equal to $150,384 (the “Base Salary”), less normal
withholdings, payable in equal monthly or more frequent
installments as are customary under Employer’s payroll
practices from time to time. Employer’s Board of Directors
shall review Employee’s Base Salary annually and may increase
Employee’s Base Salary from year to year during the term of
this Agreement. Any Base Salary increase (regardless of form), will
be determined by the Employer’s Board of Directors after
taking into account, among other things, changes in the cost of
living, Employee’s performance and the performance of
Employer. Any action or review by the Board of Directors may be
delegated to an appropriate committee thereof. Employee shall be
entitled to annual incentive compensation in such amount and
subject to such criteria as the parties may mutually agree from
time to time during the term of this Agreement.
So long as Employee is employed hereunder,
Employee is entitled to receive reimbursement for, or seek payment
directly by Employer of, all reasonable expenses which are
consistent with the normal policy of Employer in the performance of
Employee’s duties hereunder, provided that Employee accounts
for such expenses in writing in accordance with Employer’s
reimbursement policies as may be adopted from time to
time.
So long as Employee is actively employed
hereunder, Employee will be entitled to participate in the employee
benefit, option, bonus and any other compensation programs as may
be available from time to time to executives of the Employer
similarly situated to Employee.
Employee shall be entitled vacation in
accordance with Employer’s policies as the same may be in
effect from time to time during the term of this
Agreement.
In Employee’s position as an employee of
Employer, Employee has had and will have access to confidential
information, trade secrets and other proprietary information of
vital importance to Employer and has and will also develop
relationships with customers, employees and others who deal with
Employer which are of value to Employer. Employer requires as a
condition to Employee’s employment with Employer that
Employee agree to certain restrictions on Employee’s use of
the proprietary information and valuable relationships developed
during Employee’s employment with Employer. In consideration
of the terms and conditions contained herein, the parties hereby
agree as follows:
7.1 The parties
mutually agree and acknowledge that Employer may entrust Employee
with highly sensitive, confidential, restricted and proprietary
information concerning various Business Opportunities (as
hereinafter defined), customer lists, and personnel matters.
Employee acknowledges that he shall bear a fiduciary responsibility
to Employer to protect such information from use or disclosure that
is not necessary for the performance of Employee’s duties
hereunder, as an essential incident of Employee’s employment
with Employer.
7.2 For the
purposes of this Section, the following definitions shall
apply:
7.2.1 “Trade
Secret” shall mean the identity and addresses of customers of
Employer, the whole or any portion or phase of any scientific or
technical information, design, process, procedure, formula or
improvement that is valuable and secret (in the sense that it is
not generally known to competitors of Employer) and which is
defined as a “trade secret” under Georgia law pursuant
to the Georgia Trade Secrets Act.
7.2.2
“Confidential Information” shall mean any data or
information, other than Trade Secrets, which is material to
Employer and not generally known by the public. Confidential
Information shall include, but not be limited to, Business
Opportunities of Employer (as hereinafter defined), the details of
this Agreement, Employer’s business plans and financial
statements and projections, information as to the capabilities of
Employer’s employees, their respective salaries and benefits
and any other terms of their employment and the costs of the
services Employer may offer or provide to the customers it serves,
to the extent such information is material to Employer and not
generally known by the public.
7.2.3
“Business Opportunities” shall mean any
specialized information or plans of Employer concerning the
provision of financial services to the public, together with all
related information concerning the specifics of any contemplated
financial services regardless of whether Employer has contacted or
communicated with such target person or business.
7.2.4
Notwithstanding the definitions of Trade Secrets,
Confidential Information, and Business Opportunities set forth
above, Trade Secrets, Confidential Information, and Business
Opportunities shall not include any information:
(i)
that is or becomes generally known to the public;
(ii) that is
already known by Employee or is developed by Employee after
termination of employment through entirely independent
efforts;
(iii) that
Employee obtains from an independent source having a bona fide
right to use and disclose such information;
(iv) that is
required to be disclosed by law, except to the extent eligible for
special treatment under an appropriate protective order;
or
(v) that
Employer’s Board of Directors approves for
release.
7.3 Employee
shall not, without the prior approval of Employer’s Board of
Directors, during his employment with Employer and for so long
thereafter as the information or data remain Trade Secrets, use or
disclose, or negligently permit any unauthorized person who is not
an employee of Employer to use, disclose, or gain access to, any
Trade Secrets of Employer, its affiliates, or of any other person
or entity making Trade Secrets available for Employer’s
use.
7.4 Employee
shall not, without the prior written consent of Employer, during
his employment with Employer and for a period of twenty-four (24)
months thereafter as long as the information or data remains
competitively sensitive, use or disclose, or negligently permit any
unauthorized person who is not employed by Employer to use,
disclose, or gain access to, any Confidential Information to which
the Employee obtained access by virtue of his employment with
Employer, except as provided in Section 7.2 of this
Agreement.
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Observance
of Security Measures.
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During Employee’s employment with
Employer, Employee is required to observe all security measures
adopted to protect Trade Secrets, Confidential Information, and
Business Opportunities of Employer.
Upon the request of Employer and, in any event,
upon the termination of his employment with Employer, Employee
shall deliver to Employer all memoranda, notes, records, manuals or
other documents, including all copies of such materials containing
Trade Secrets or Confidential Information, whether made or compiled
by Employee or furnished to him from any source by virtue of his
employment with Employer.
Employee acknowledges and agrees that the
covenants contained in Sections 7, 8, 9 and 14 of this Agreement
shall be construed as covenants independent of one another and
distinct from the remaining terms and conditions of this Agreement,
and severable from every other contract and course of business
between Employer and Employee, and that the existence of any claim,
suit or action by Employee against Employer, whether predicated
upon this or any other agreement, shall not constitute a defense to
Employer’s enforcement of any covenant contained in Sections
7, 8, 9 and 14 of this Agreement.
Employee acknowledges and agrees that the
covenants contained in Sections 7, 8, 9 and 14 of this Agreement
shall survive any termination of employment, as applicable, with or
without Cause (as defined in Section 12 hereof), at the instigation
or upon the initiative of either party. Employee further
acknowledges and agrees that the ascertainment of damages in the
event of Employee’s breach of any covenant contained in
Sections 7, 8, 9 and 14 of this Agreement would be difficult, if at
all possible. Employee therefore acknowledges and agrees that
Employer shall be entitled in addition to and not in limitation of
any other rights, remedies, or damages available to Employer in
arbitration, at law or in equity, upon submitting whatever
affidavit the law may require, and posting any necessary bond, to
have a court of competent jurisdiction enjoin Employee from
committing any such breach.
During the term of this Agreement,
Employee’s employment, including without limitation, except
as otherwise provided in Section 12 of this Agreement, all
compensation, salary, expenses reimbursement, and employee benefits
may be terminated as follows:
12.1 Upon the
election of Employer for Cause;
12.2 Upon
Employee’s election upon Employer’s breach of any
material provision of this Agreement, provided that the Employee
first provides written notice of the circumstances allegedly
constituting a breach of the Agreement and an opportunity for the
Employer to cure such circumstanc