| (a) | The date any one person, or more than one person acting as a group, acquires ownership of stock of the Company that, together with Stock held by such person or group, constitutes more than 50 percent of the total fair market value or total voting power of the Stock of the Company. | ||
| (b) | The date any one person, or more than one person acting as a group, acquires (or has acquired during the 12-month period ending on the date of the most recent acquisition by such person or persons) ownership of Stock of the Company possessing 30 percent or more of the total voting power of the Stock of the Company. |
| (c) | The date a majority of the members of the Board of Directors is replaced during any 12-month period by directors whose appointment or election is not endorsed by a majority of the members of the Board of Directors before the date of the appointment or election. | ||
| (d) | The date any one person, or more than one person acting as a group, acquires (or has acquired during the 12-month period ending on the date of the most recent acquisition by such person or persons) assets from the Company that have a total gross fair market value equal to or more than 40 percent of the total gross fair market value of all of the assets of the Company immediately before such acquisition or acquisitions. For this purpose, gross fair market value means the value of the assets of the Company, or the value of the assets being disposed of, determined without regard to any liabilities associated with such assets. |
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| 4) | ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION |
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| 6. | PAYMENT OF AWARDS |
| (a) | Subject to the provisions of Section 7 and Section 8, each Participant shall be eligible to receive after the close of a Performance Period cash or Stock equal to the value of such Participants Award for that Performance Period; provided, however, that no Participant shall receive more than 100% of his or her target Award; provided, further, that in the event payment of an Award, or a portion of an Award, would not be fully deductible, when paid by the Company, under the Code, then payment for such Award, or the portion of such Award which is not deductible, shall be mandatorily deferred pursuant to the Deferred Award Plan and such Award or portion of such Award shall not be payable pursuant to this Plan. | ||
| (b) | Subject to the provisions of Section 7 and Section 8, an Award shall be paid in the calendar year following the close of a Performance Period, unless the Participant has made an election under Section 8 to defer receipt of such Award. | ||
| (c) | In the event of a Change in Control, the Committee, in its sole discretion, may terminate any or all active Performance Periods with respect to any Participant and pay such Participant cash or stock equal to the value of such Participants target Award for those terminated Performance Periods. |
| 7. | LIMITATIONS ON RIGHTS TO PAYMENT OF AWARDS |
| a) | No Participant shall have any right to receive payment of an Award under the Plan for a Performance Period unless the Participant remains in the employ of the Company or any of its affiliates through the Award Payment Date. However, in the event that, prior to the Award Payment Date, a Participants employment with the Company and its affiliates terminates due to the Participants death, disability or Retirement, the Participant (or, in the event of the Participants death, the person or estate determined under Section 9) shall remain eligible to receive a portion of the Award based on the amount of time the Participant was employed during the Performance Period. Notwithstanding the preceding two sentences, the Committee may, if in the reasonable opinion of the Committee circumstances warrant such action, approve payment of an Award to a Participant whose employment terminates |
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| b) | Furthermore, no Participant shall have any right to receive payment of an Award under the Plan if, subsequent to the commencement of the Performance Period and prior to the Award Payment date, the Participant either (i) engaged directly or indirectly, either personally or as an employee, agent, partner, stockholder, officer or director of, or consultant to, any entity or person engaged in any business in which the Company or any of its affiliates is engaged, and, in the opinion of the Committee, such entity or person has engaged in competition with the Company or any of its affiliates or (ii) at any time divulged to any person or entity other than the Company or any of its affiliates, any of the trade secrets, methods, processes or other proprietary or confidential information of the Company or any of its affiliates. For the purposes of this paragraph, a Participant shall be deemed not a stockholder of a competing entity if the Participants record and beneficial ownership amount to not more than one percent of the outstanding capital stock of any company subject to the periodic reporting requirements of Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. | ||
| c) | The Company may postpone the issuance or delivery of Stock or payment of other benefits under any Award if the Company reasonably anticipates that the delivery of such Stock or payment of other benefits would violate any federal or state law, rule or regulation and may require any Participant to make such representations, furnish such information and comply with or be subject to such other conditions as it may consider appropriate in connection with the issuance or delivery of Stock or payment of other benefits in compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations provided however that delivery of Stock or payment of other benefits shall be made at the earliest date at which the Company reasonably anticipates that such delivery of Stock or payment of other benefits will not cause a violation of the applicable laws, rules and regulations. |
| 8. | DEFERRAL OF PAYMENT AWARDS. |
| a) | A Participant may, subject to the terms and conditions of this Section 8, elect to defer payment of all or a portion of any Award which the Participant might earn with respect to a Performance Period by completing the payment deferral form prescribed by the Committee (the Deferred Amount). The Committee may, at its discretion, provide that a percentage or percentages of amounts voluntarily deferred pursuant to this Section 8 will be matched. | ||
| b) | Payment Deferral Form. The payment deferral form shall include: |
| (i) | the amount to be deferred; | ||
| (ii) | the period of deferral; | ||
| (iii) | the period over which the payment is to be made; and |
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| (iv) | an acknowledgement by the Participant that he or she will pay to the Company any amount required to be withheld in order to comply with applicable tax laws and regulations. In the event that the Participant does not make such acknowledgement or does not pay the Company the required amount, the Company shall have the right to deduct from the Deferred Amount and matching amount plus or minus any earnings or losses any taxes or other amounts required by law to be withheld. |
| c) | Date of Election. An election to defer receipt of an Award shall be made on or prior to the December 31 that immediately precedes the start of the applicable Performance Period. | ||
| d) | Payment of Deferred Awards. The amount deferred and the matching amount plus or minus any earnings or losses thereon pursuant to Subsection (e) hereof will be paid (in cash or Stock, at the Committees sole discretion) to the Participant (or, in the event of the Participants death, the person or estate determined under Section 9), on the date(s) specified in the deferral form prescribed by the Committee; provided, however, that in the event a deferred Award or portion of an Award, when payable, would not be fully deductible by the Company under the Code, then subject to the requirements of Section 409A of the Code, payment for such Award or portion of such Award will be mandatorily deferred hereunder until such time as the Company may fully deduct payment for such Award, or portion of such Award, pursuant to the Code. | ||
| e) | Earnings Credited on Deferred Amounts/Matching Amounts. The Deferred Amount and the matching amount will be credited with dividend equivalents and appreciate and depreciate in the same manner as if it were Stock. | ||
| f) | Acceleration of Payment of Deferred Amount. |
| (i) | At any time prior to complete payment of the Deferred Amount and matching amount plus or minus any earnings or losses, the Company may, in its sole discretion and in accordance with Section 409A of the Code, pay to the Participant (or, in the event of the Participants death, the person or estate determined under Section 9), an amount not greater than that portion of the Deferred Amount plus or minus any earnings or losses that the Committee determines, in its sole discretion, necessary to meet a severe financial hardship arising from a sudden and unexpected illness, or accident of the Participant or of a dependent (as defined in section 152(a) of the Code) of the Participant or other similar unforeseeable circumstances. The payment shall be made only in instances of hardship arising from causes beyond the Participants control. The Participant shall apply in writing to the Committee for any hardship payment under this subsection (i) and shall furnish the Committee such information as the Committee deems necessary and appropriate to make its determination. |
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| (ii) | The entire Deferred Amount and the matching amount, plus or minus any earnings or losses, shall become immediately payable in the event of a Change in Control. |
| 9. | DESIGNATION OF BENEFICIARY |
| 10. | CORPORATE CHANGE |
| 11. | AMENDMENTS |
| 12. | TERMINATION |
| 13. | MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS |
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| (a) | This Plan is not a contract between the Company and its Employees; it is totally gratuitous on the part of the Company. No Employee or other person shall have any claim or right to be granted an Award under this Plan. Neither the establishment of this Plan, nor any action taken hereunder, shall be construed as giving any Employee any right to be retained in the employ of the Company. | ||
| (b) | A Participants right and interest under the Plan may not be assigned or transferred, except as provided in Section 9 hereof, and any attempted assignment or transfer shall be null and void and shall extinguish the Companys obligation under the Plan to pay the Award and/or Deferred Amount and matching amount plus or minus any earnings or losses with respect to the Participant. | ||
| (c) | The Plan shall be unfunded except that the Company may establish a grantor trust to assist it in meeting its obligations hereunder. | ||
| (d) | The Company shall have the right to deduct from each Award and any Deferred Amount and matching amount plus or minus any earnings or losses paid any taxes or other amounts required by law to be withheld. | ||
| (e) | The Plan shall be construed, interpreted and governed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without reference to rules relating to conflicts of law. |
| 14. | EFFECTIVE DATE |
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