Reductions of Severance Benefits
Except as otherwise provided in this Plan, all severance benefits payable under this Plan will be reduced, as and when it is otherwise payable, by the amount of any severance or similar payment required to be paid to you by the Company under applicable federal, state, and local laws. Cash severance payments are also subject to all applicable withholding due on any severance benefits, including state and federal income tax withholding and FICA and Medicare tax withholding.
Coordination/Offsets for Employment Agreements
If you are party to an individual written employment contract or agreement with the Company (or a subsidiary) that provides for the payment of any benefits upon termination of your employment, then your cash severance benefits under this Plan will be reduced as follows. Any cash severance pay under this Plan will be reduced (offset), as and when it is otherwise payable, by the amount of any cash payment made or due to be made by the Company to you pursuant to an employment contract, agreement or other severance arrangement, to the extent such payment is called a severance payment or otherwise becomes payable due to a termination of your employment with the Company (but not including any cash severance payments that are specifically due to COBRA premiums or outplacement) . If such an agreement, contract or arrangement provides for cash severance payments in excess of those provided under this Plan, no severance pay will be due under this Plan. However, you may still be eligible for other benefits under the Plan, to the extent benefits are not duplicative of what you are receiving under the agreement, contract or arrangement.
Termination of Severance Benefits
All severance benefits payable under this Plan will be terminated if the Company determines that you have violated your ongoing obligations with respect to non-disclosure of confidential information, assignment of intellectual property, non-competition and non-solicitation, including those obligations under your Confidentiality, Assignment of Intellectual Property and Restrictive Covenants Agreement and any other agreement with the Company that survive the termination of your employment with the Company. Specifically with respect to Equity Awards, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any agreement evidencing an Equity Award, if you violate any of your ongoing obligations described above, then (i) you will immediately forfeit all outstanding Equity Awards and any right to receive shares thereunder, and (ii) with respect to shares that have been issued pursuant to an Equity Award within two (2) years prior to such violation, you shall either (A) return such shares to the Company or (B) pay to the Company in cash an amount equal to the fair market value of the shares as of the date their receipt became taxable to you.
V.AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION OF THE PLAN
Except as provided below, the Company reserves the right in its discretion to amend or terminate this Plan, or to alter, reduce, or eliminate any severance benefit, practice or policy hereunder, in whole or in part, at any time and for any reason without the consent of or notice to any employee or any other person having any beneficial interest in this Plan. Such action may be taken by the Board of the Company, the Compensation Committee of the Board, or by any other individual or committee to whom such authority has been delegated by the Board.
However, during the 12-month period following a Change in Control, the Plan may not be amended, terminated or otherwise altered to reduce the amount (or negatively change the terms) of any severance benefit that becomes payable to a Participant who was a Participant in the Plan on the day prior to the Change in Control. In addition, if a Change in Control occurs within the 6-month period following the effective date of an amendment to terminate the Plan or otherwise reduce the amount (or negatively alter the terms) of any severance benefit under the Plan, such amendment (or portion of such amendment) will become null and void upon the Change in Control. Upon the Change in Control, the Plan will automatically revert to the terms in effect prior to the adoption of said amendment.