SECTION II. COVENANT PROHIBITING COMPETITION AND SOLICITATION OF CUSTOMERS
Confidential Information of the Company gained by Employee during employment is developed by the Company through substantial expenditures of time, effort, and financial resources, and constitutes valuable and unique property of the Company. Employee acknowledges, understands, and agrees that the foregoing makes it necessary for the protection of the Company’s business that Employee does not divert business of the Company’s customers from the Company and that he or she maintain the confidentiality and integrity of Confidential Information. Therefore, Employee agrees that during his or her employment and for a period of one (1) year thereafter he or she will not:
| A. | Enter into an ownership, consulting or employment arrangement with, or render services for, any individual or entity rendering services or handling products competitive with the Company in any geographic region or territory in which Employee worked or for which I had responsibility during the twenty-four (24) month period preceding Employee’s departure from the Company; provided however, if Employee’s employment terminates by reason of Retirement as defined in the Long Term Incentive Award Overview, the Company consents to Employee becoming an employee or director of, or a consultant to or advisor to, another financial institution, so long as Employee complies with any applicable agreements containing covenants pertaining to confidential information or prohibiting solicitation of customers or employees, including the terms of this Agreement. |
| B. | Directly or indirectly solicit, divert, entice or take away any customers, business or prospective business with whom he or she had contact, involvement or responsibility during his or her employment with the Company, or attempt to do so for the sale of any product or service that competes with a product or service offered by the Company; |
| C. | Directly or indirectly solicit, divert, entice or take away any potential customer identified, selected or targeted by the Company with whom he or she had contact, involvement or responsibility during his or her employment with the Company, or attempt to do so for the sale of any product or service that competes with a product or service offered by the Company; or |
| D. | Accept or provide assistance in the accepting of (including, but not limited to, providing any service, information or assistance or other facilitation or other involvement) business or orders from customers or any potential customers of the Company with whom he or she has had contact, involvement, or responsibility on behalf of any third party or otherwise for his or her own benefit. |
Nothing contained in this Section shall preclude Employee from accepting employment with or creating his or her own company, firm, or business that competes with the Company so long as his or her activities do not violate any of the terms of this Agreement.
SECTION III. COVENANT NOT TO SOLICIT EMPLOYEES
Employee agrees that during his or her employment with the Company and for a period of one (1) year thereafter, he or she will not directly or indirectly, recruit, hire or attempt to neither recruit or hire, directly or by assisting others, any other employee of Fifth Third, nor encourage any such employee to leave the employment of Fifth Third. Among other things, this paragraph means that Participant agrees not to engage in discussions with any officer, manager, employee, or independent contractor of Fifth Third in an attempt to induce or encourage the individual to end his or her relationship with Fifth Third, not to share any Fifth Third officer, manager, employee, or independent contractor’s name or contact information with any other person or entity so that the person or entity can speak to Fifth Third’s officer, manager, employee, or independent contractor about potentially leaving Fifth Third, and not to participate in any interviewing or hiring of a Fifth Third officer, manager, employee, or independent contractor.
SECTION V. OTHER PROVISIONS
| A. | Extension In The Event Of Breach: Any breach by Employee of any of the restrictions contained in Sections II-IV of this Agreement may be escalated to the Fifth Third Bancorp Human Capital and Compensation Committee to exercise its discretion to forfeit unvested awards and shall extend the term of this Agreement by the period of the breach. The commitments made in this Agreement will survive termination of employment with the Company. |
| B. | Governing Law: This Agreement and all the rights, duties and remedies of the parties hereunder shall be governed by the laws of the state of Ohio. The Company shall have the right to specifically enforce the covenants contained in this Agreement, in addition to any other legal, equitable (including specifically, but not limited to temporary restraining orders or preliminary or permanent injunctive relief) or other remedies as may be available to the Company for Employee’s breach of any such covenants. |
| C. | Severability: If any provision of this Agreement is declared invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be deemed modified to the extent necessary and possible to render it valid and enforceable. |
| D. | Waiver/Modification: No waiver or modification of this Agreement will be valid unless in writing and duly executed by the party against whom enforcement is sought. Failure of the Company to enforce any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of such provision or of the right of the Company thereafter to enforce each and every provision. |
| E. | At-Will Nature of Employment: Employee understands that nothing in this Agreement requires him or her to continue employment with the Company for any particular length of time or requires that the Company continue to employ Employee for any particular length of time. |
| F. | Successors/Assigns: The terms and provisions of this Agreement shall be binding on and inure to the benefit of the successors and assigns of the Company (including but not limited to any corporate successor of The Company) and Employee’s heirs, executors and personal representatives. As part of this provision, Employee understands and agrees that should Employee become employed by another entity owned or otherwise affiliated with Fifth Third Bancorp (such as its subsidiaries, divisions or unincorporated affiliates), the obligations of this Agreement follow Employee to such other entity automatically and without further action, and that entity becomes the “Company” within the meaning of this Agreement. |
| G. | Obligation to Comply With Other Laws: The duties Employee owes the Company under this Agreement shall be deemed to include federal, state and common law obligations of employees to their employers. This Agreement is intended, amongst other things, to supplement the provisions of state trade secret law and duties Employee owes the Company under common law, including but not limited to the duty of loyalty, and does not in any way supersede any of the obligations or duties Employee otherwise owe the Company. |
| H. | Obligation to Comply With Other Agreements: This Agreement is in addition to and not in lieu of othernon-solicitation,non-disclosure, andnon-competition obligations Employee may owe to the Company. |
| I. | Attorney’s Fees: If the Company must enforce any of its rights under this Agreement through legal proceedings, Employee agrees to reimburse the Company for all reasonable costs, expenses, and attorney’s fees incurred by it in connection with the enforcement of its rights. |
| J. | Injunctive Relief: Employee acknowledges that should Employee violate any of the provisions of this Agreement, the Company will suffer irreparable harm and not have adequate an adequate remedy at law. Accordingly, Employee agrees that the Company may seek injunctive relief to restrain any such violation, as well as equitable relief, in a court of competent jurisdiction. |
| K. | Counterparts: This Agreement may be signed in counterparts. |
THE PARTIES HERETO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND IT, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS. They further acknowledge that they have exercised due diligence in reviewing this Agreement, and that each has had adequate opportunity to consult with legal counsel or other advisors to the extent that each deemed such consultation necessary.