1. | Employment Term. The Company shall employ Executive and Executive shall continue in the employ of the Company through December 31, 2006. | ||
2. | Duties. Executive shall serve in the Los Angeles, California area as Chief Strategic Officer, with all of the authority, duties and responsibilities commensurate with such positions. Executive shall report the Companys Chief Executive Officer. | ||
3. | Compensation and Related Matters. |
(a) | Salary. Effective April 1, 2006, Executive shall receive a salary at the per annum rate of four hundred fifty thousand dollars ($450,000), payable in accordance with the Companys payroll practices for senior executives. | ||
Subject to board approval, Executive will be granted: (i) 130,000 SARS immediately and (ii) 20,000 Restricted Stock Units immediately. | |||
(b) | Employment Benefits. Executive and Executives qualified dependents shall be entitled to participate in or receive benefits under each benefit plan or arrangement made available by the Company to its senior executives (including, without limitation, those relating to group medical, dental, vision, long-term disability, D&O, accidental death and dismemberment, and life insurance), subject to and on a basis consistent with the terms, conditions and overall administration of such plans and subject to the Companys right to modify, and amend or terminate any such plan or arrangement with or without prior notice. Executive is eligible to participate in the Companys 401K program, and Executive is eligible to participate in the Companys Deferred Compensation. | ||
(c) | Bonus. Executive will be eligible for a target bonus of 50% of his end-of-year salary calculated in accordance with the senior executive bonus plan. Bonuses if any, will be paid following the completion of the relevant calendar year at such time bonuses are paid to the Companys other senior executives. | ||
(d) | Vacation. Executive shall be entitled to three (3) weeks of vacation during each year, accrued at the rate of 4.62 hours per pay period. |
4. | Termination Payment. If Executive is terminated by the Company without Cause or resigns for Good Reason before December 31, 2006, Executive will receive then current salary for the remainder of the contract. As a precondition to the Companys obligation to pay out this contract, Executive agrees to execute and deliver to the Company a fully |
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effective general release in the form attached to this Agreement as Attachment A. The Company will commence paying Executives salary in accordance with the Companys payroll practices for senior executives through the remainder of the Employment Term through December 31, 2006, subject to Executives duty to mitigate, and such payments shall cease if Executive obtains employment or if Executive fails to document to the Company on a monthly basis that Executive is making reasonable efforts to seek employment. For purposes of this Agreement, the Company shall have Cause to terminate the Executives services in the event of any of the following acts or circumstances: (i) Executives conviction of a felony or entering a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to any crime constituting a felony (other than a traffic violation or by reason of vicarious liability); (ii) Executives substantial and repeated failure to attempt to perform Executives lawful duties as contemplated in Section 2 of this Agreement, except during periods of physical or mental incapacity; (iii) Executives gross negligence or willful misconduct with respect to any material aspect of the business of the Company or any of its affiliates, which negligence or misconduct has a material and demonstrable adverse effect n the Company; or (iv) any material breach of this Agreement or any material breach of any other written agreement between Executive and the Companys affiliates governing Executives equity compensation arrangements (i.e., any agreement with respect to Executives stock and/or stock options of any of the Companys affiliates); provided, however, that Executive shall not be deemed to have been terminated for Cause in the case of clause (iv) above, unless any such breach is not fully corrected prior to the expiration of the fifteen (15) calendar day period following delivery to Executive of the Companys written notice of its intention to terminate his employment for Cause describing the basis therefore in reasonable detail. |
For purposes of this agreement, Good Reason will be deemed to have occurred if Executive terminates his employment because of (i) a material diminution of Executives duties as Chief Strategic Officer of the Company, (ii) the breach by the Company in any respect of any of its obligations under this Agreement, and, in any such case (but only if correction or cure is possible), the failure by the Company to correct or cure the circumstance or breach on which such resignation is based within 30 days after receiving notice from Executive describing such circumstance or breach in reasonable detail or (iii) the relocation of Executives primary office location to a location more than 75 miles outside the Los Angeles, California area. |
5. | Confidential and Proprietary Information. |
(a) | The parties agree and acknowledge that during the course of Executives employment, Executive will be given and will have access to and be exposed to trade secrets and confidential information in written, oral, electronic and other forms regarding the Company and its affiliates (which includes but is not limited to all of its business units, divisions and affiliates) and their business, equipment, products and employees, including, without limitation: the identities of the Companys and its affiliates distributors and customers and potential distributors and customers (hereinafter referred to collectively as DISTRIBUTORS), including, without limitation, the identity of Distributors that Executive cultivates |
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or maintains while provided services at the Company or any of its affiliates using the Companys or any of its affiliates products, name and infrastructure, and the identities of contact persons with respect to those Distributors and contact persons with respect to product types, pricing, sales calls, timing, sales terms, rental terms, lease terms, service plans, and other marketing terms and techniques; the Companys and its affiliates business methods, practices, strategies, forecasts, pricing, ad marketing techniques; the identities of the Companys and its affiliates licensors, vendors and other suppliers and the identities of the Companys and its affiliates contact persons at such licensors, vendors and other suppliers; the identities of the Companys and its affiliates key sales representatives and personnel and other employees; advertising and sales materials; research, computer software and related materials; and other facts and financial and other business information concerning or relating to the Company or any of its affiliates and their business, operations, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. Executive expressly agrees to use such trade secrets and confidential information only for purposes of carrying out his duties for the Company and its affiliates as he deems appropriate in his good faith judgment, and not for any other purpose, including, without limitation, not any way or for any purpose detrimental to the Company or any of its affiliates. Executive shall not at any time, either during the course of his employment hereunder or after the termination of such employment, use for himself or others, directly or indirectly, any such trade secrets or confidential information, and, except as required by law, Executive shall not disclose such trade secrets or confidential information, directly or indirectly, to any other person or entity. Trade secret and confidential information hereunder shall not include any information which (i) is already in or subsequently enters the public domain, other than as a result of any direct or indirect disclosure by Executive, (ii) becomes available to Executive on a non-confidential basis from a source other than the Company or any of its affiliates, provided that Executive has no knowledge that such source is subject to a confidentiality agreement or other obligation of secrecy or confidentiality (whether pursuant to a contract, legal or fiduciary obligation or duty or otherwise) to the Company or any of its affiliates or any other person or entity or (iii) is approved for release by the board of directors of the Company or any of its affiliates or which the board of directors of the Company or any of its affiliates makes available to third parties without an obligation of confidentiality. | |||
(b) | All physical property and all notes, memoranda, files, records, writings, documents and other materials of any and every nature, written or electronic, which Executive shall prepare or receive in the course of his employment with the Company and which relate to or are useful in any manner to the business now or hereafter conducted by the Company or any of its affiliates are and shall remain the sole and exclusive property of the Company and its affiliates, as applicable. Executive shall not remove from the Companys premises any such physical property, the original or any reproduction of any such materials nor the information contained therein except for the purposes of carrying out his duties to the Company or any of its affiliates and all such property (except for any items of |
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personal property not owned by the Company or any of its affiliates), materials and information in his possession or under his custody or control upon the termination of his employment (other than such materials received by executive solely in his capacity as a shareholder) or at any other time upon request by the Company shall be immediately turned over to the Company and its affiliates, as applicable. | |||
(c) | All inventions, improvements, trade secrets, reports, manuals computer programs, tapes and other ideas and materials developed or invented by Executive during the period of his employment, either solely or in collaboration with others, which relate to the actual or anticipated business or research of the Company or any of its affiliates which result from or are suggested by any work Executive may do for the Company or any of its affiliates or which result from the use of the Companys or any of its affiliates premises or property (collectively, the DEVELOPMENTS) shall be the sole and exclusive property the Company and its affiliates, as applicable. Executive assigns and transfers to the Company his entire right and interest in any such development, and Executive shall execute and deliver any and all documents and shall do and perform any and all other acts and things necessary or desirable in connection therewith that the Company or any of its affiliates may reasonably request, it being agreed that the preparation of any such documents shall be at the Companys expense. Nothing in this paragraph applies to an invention which qualifies fully under the provisions of California Labor Code Section 2870. | ||
(d) | Following the termination of Executives employment, Executive will reasonably cooperate with the Company (at the Companys expense, if Executive reasonably incurs any out-of-pocket costs with respect thereto) in any defense of any legal, administrative or other action in which the Company or any of its affiliates or any of their distributors or other business relations are a party or are otherwise involved, so long as any such matter was related to Executives duties and activities conducted on behalf of the Company or its Subsidiaries. | ||
(e) | The provisions of this Section 5 and Section 6 shall survive any termination of this Agreement and termination of Executives employment with the Company. |
6. | Non-Solicitation. Executive acknowledges that in the course of his employment for the Company he will become familiar with the Companys and its affiliates trade secrets and other confidential information concerning the Company and its affiliates. Accordingly, Executive agrees that, during Executives employment and for a period of twenty-four (24) months immediately thereafter (the NONSOLICITATION PERIOD), he will not directly or indirectly through another entity (i) induce or attempt to induce any employee or Distributor of the Company or any of its affiliates to leave the employment of, or cease to maintain its distributor relationship with, the Company or such affiliate, or in any way interfere with the relationship between the Company or any such affiliate and any employee or Distributor thereof, (ii) hire any person who was an employee of the Company or any of its affiliates at any time during the Nonsolicitation |
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Period or enter into a distributor relationship with any person or entity who was or is a Distributor of the Company or any of its affiliates at any time during the Nonsolicitation Period, (iii) induce or attempt to induce any Distributor, supplier, licensor, licensee or other business relation of the Company or any of its affiliates to cease doing business with the Company or such affiliate, or in any way interfere with the relationship between such Distributor, supplier, licensor, licensee or business relation and the Company or any of its affiliates or (iv) use any trade secrets or other confidential information of the Company or any of its affiliates to directly or indirectly participate in any means or manner in any competitive business, wherever located. |
7. | Injunctive Relief. Executive and the Company (a) intend that the provisions of sections 5 and 6 be and become valid and enforceable, (b) acknowledge and agree that the provisions of Sections 5 and 7 are reasonable and necessary to protect the legitimate interests of the business of the Company and its affiliates and (c) agree that any violation of Section 5 or 6 will result in irreparable injury to the Company and its affiliates, the exact amount of which will be difficult to ascertain and the remedies at law for which will not be reasonable or adequate compensation to the Company and its affiliates for such a violation. Accordingly, Executive agrees that if Executive violates or threatens to violate the provisions of Section 5 or 6, in addition to any other remedy which may be available at law or in equity, the Company shall be entitled to seek specific performance and injunctive relief, without posting bond or other security, and without the necessity of proving actual damages. In addition, in the event of a violation or threatened violation by Executive of Section 5 or 6 of this Agreement, the Nonsolicitation Period will be tolled until such violation or threatened violation has been duly cured. If, at the time of enforcement of Sections 5 or 6 of this Agreement, a court holds that the restrictions stated therein are unreasonable under circumstances then existing, the parties thereto agree that the maximum period, scope or geographical area reasonable under such circumstances shall be substituted for the stated period, scope or area. | ||
8. | Assignment; Successors and Assigns. Executive agrees that he shall not assign, sell, transfer, delegate or otherwise dispose of, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, any rights or obligations under this Agreement, nor shall Executives rights hereunder be subject to encumbrance of the claims of creditors. This agreement may be assigned by the Company without the consent of the Executive to (a) any entity succeeding to all or substantially all of the assets or business of the Company, whether by merger, consolidation, acquisition or otherwise (upon which entity the Agreement shall be binding), or (b) any affiliate; provided, however, that in neither case shall the Company be released from its obligations hereunder, nor shall any assignment to any affiliate lessen the Executives rights with respect to his position, duties, responsibilities or authority with respect to the Company. | ||
9. | Governing Law; Jurisdiction and Venue. This Agreement shall be governed, construed, interpreted and enforced in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of California without regard to the conflicts of law principles thereof. Suit to enforce this Agreement or any provision or portion thereof may be brought in the federal or state courts located in Los Angeles, California. |
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10. | Severability of Provisions. In the event that any provision of this Agreement should ever be adjudicated by a court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable, then such provision shall be deemed reformed to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, and the invalidity or unenforceability to any provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability or any other provision of this Agreement. | ||
11. | Warranty. As an inducement to the Company to enter into this Agreement, Executive represents and warrants that he is not a party to any other agreement or obligation for personal services, and that there exists no impediment or restraint, contractual or otherwise, on his power, right or ability to enter into this Agreement and to perform his duties and obligations hereunder. | ||
12. | Notices. All notices, requests, demands and other communications which are
required or may be given under this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to
have been duly given when received if personally delivered; when transmitted if transmitted
by telecopy, electronic or digital transmission method upon receipt of telephonic or
electronic confirmation; the day after it is sent, if sent for next day delivery to a
domestic address by recognized overnight delivery service (e.g., Federal Express); and upon
receipt, if sent by certified or registered mail, return receipt requested. In each case
notice will be sent to: |
(a) | If to the Company: |
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Herbalife International of America, Inc. 1800 Century Park East Los Angeles, California 90067 Attention: Senior Vice President, Human Resources Telecopy: (310) 557-3941 |
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with a copy to: |
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Herbalife Ltd. 1800 Century Park East Los Angeles, California 90067 Attention: General Counsel Telecopy: (310) 203-7747 |
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(b) | if to Executive, to: |
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Paul Noack 2816 Sandhurst Avenue Thousand Oaks, California 91362 |
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or to such other place and with other copies as either party may designate as to itself or himself by written notice to the others. |
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13. | Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts, each of which will be deemed to be an original, but all of which together shall constitute one and the same Agreement. | ||
14. | Entire Agreement. The terms of this Agreement are intended by the parties to be the final expression of their agreement with respect to the subject matter hereto and this Agreement supersedes (and may not be contradicted by, modified or supplemented by) any prior or contemporaneous agreement, written or oral, with respect thereto, with the sole exception of the non-statutory stock option agreement governing those options, if any, granted under Paragraph 3 (a) above. The parties further intend that this Agreement shall constitute the complete and exclusive statement of its terms and that no extrinsic evidence whatsoever may be introduced in any judicial, administrative or other legal proceeding to vary the terms of this Agreement. | ||
15. | Amendments; Waivers. This Agreement may not be modified, amended, or terminated except by an instrument in writing, signed by Executive and a duly authorized representative of the Company. No waiver of any of the provisions of this Agreement, whether by conduct or otherwise, in any one or more instances, shall be deemed to be construed as a further, continuing or subsequent waiver of any such provision or as a waiver of any other provision of this Agreement. No failure to exercise and no delay in exercising any right, remedy or power hereunder shall preclude any other or further exercise of any other right, remedy or power provided herein or by law or in equity. | ||
16. | Representation of Counsel; Mutual Negotiation. Each party has had the opportunity to be represented by counsel of its choice in negotiating this Agreement. This Agreement shall therefore be deemed to have been negotiated and prepared at the joint request, direction and construction of the parties, at arms-length, with the advice and participation of counsel, and shall be interpreted in accordance with its terms without favor to any party. |
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EXECUTIVE |
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By: | ||||
Paul Noack | ||||
HERBALIFE INTERNATIONAL OF AMERICA, INC. |
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By: | ||||
Name: | ||||
Title: | ||||
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EXECUTIVE |
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By: | ||||
Paul Noack | ||||
HERBALIFE INTERNATIONAL OF AMERICA, INC. |
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By: | ||||
Name: | ||||
Title: | ||||
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