13. Nondisclosure of Confidential Information. Employee agrees not to disclose any Confidential Information of the Company, including information received in confidence by the Company from others except upon written consent of the Company. “Confidential Information” means information (1) disclosed to or known by Employee as a consequence of or through his or her employment with the Company, (2) not generally known outside the Company, and (3) which relates to the Company’s business and includes, without limitation, trade secrets, drawings, manuals, notebooks, reports, models, prototypes, ideas, inventions, formulas, machines, compositions, computer programs, accounting methods, customer lists, business plans, information systems, processes, formulae, algorithms, designs, product specifications, market strategies, financial information, and information concerning pricing, profits, and costs, and other information that the Company treats or is obligated to treat as confidential, privileged, or for internal use only, whether or not owned by the Company. It is understood that such Confidential Information of the Company includes matters that Employee conceived or developed as well as matters Employee learned from other employees of the Company.
Employee will not, except as the Company may otherwise consent or direct in writing, reveal or disclose, sell, use, lecture upon or publish any Confidential Information or proprietary information of the Company, or authorize anyone else to do these things at any time. Employee’s obligations under this Agreement with respect to any specific confidential information shall cease when that specific portion of the Confidential Information becomes generally known outside the Company through no fault of Employee.
Employee understands that notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement prohibits Employee from reporting to any governmental authority information concerning suspected violations of law or regulation and that Employee may disclose trade secret information to a government official or to an attorney and use it in certain court proceedings without fear of prosecution or liability provided Employee does so consistent with 18 U.S.C. § 1833.
14. Confidentiality of Agreement.
a. With the exception of necessary communications to taxing authorities, accountants, and attorneys; communications to immediate family members who reside with Employee; the affirmative obligation to inform new employers of Employee’s agreement to not compete against the company or solicit Company employees or customer; and any communications required by law, Employee agrees and covenants that the terms, amounts, and fact of this Agreement shall be kept strictly confidential. Employee further agrees not in any way (directly or indirectly) to communicate or disclose, or participate in the communication or disclosure, of any of that information to others (except as may be necessary to enforce the rights contained in this Agreement in an appropriate legal proceeding); including any of the Company’s past, present, or future employees or customers, and further agrees and covenants that the same restrictions shall apply with respect to representatives of the media.
b. Nothing in this Agreement shall prohibit or impede Employee from communicating, cooperating, or filing a complaint on possible violations of U.S. federal, state, or local law or regulation to or with any governmental agency or regulatory authority (collectively,
GATES INDUSTRIAL CORPORATION PLC EXECUTIVE SEVERANCE PLAN RELEASE AGREEMENT
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