As a result of the uncertainty in the application of Section 4999 of the Code at the time of the Determination, it is possible that a Gross-Up Payment which will not have been made by the Company should have been made ("Underpayment") or a Gross-Up Payment is made by the Company which should not have been made ("Overpayment"), consistent with the calculations required to be made hereunder. In the event that you thereafter are required to make payment of any Excise Tax or additional Excise Tax, the Accounting Firm shall determine the amount of the Underpayment that has occurred and any such Underpayment (together with interest at the rate provided in Section 1274(b)(2)(B) of the Code) shall be promptly paid by the Company to you or for your benefit. In the event the amount of the Gross-up Payment exceeds the amount necessary to reimburse you for your Excise Tax, the Accounting Firm shall determine the amount of the Overpayment that has been made and any such Overpayment (together with interest at the rate provided in Section 1274(b)(2) of the Code) shall be promptly paid by you (but only to the extent you have received a refund if the applicable Excise Tax has been paid to the Internal Revenue Service) to or for the benefit of the Company. You shall cooperate, to the extent your expenses are reimbursed by the Company, with any reasonable requests by the Company in connection with any contests or disputes with the Internal Revenue Service in connection with the Excise Tax.
(x) To the extent you would otherwise be entitled to any payment during the six months beginning on termination of your employment that would be subject to the additional tax under Section 409A, (i) the payment will not be made to you and instead will be made to a trust in compliance with Revenue Procedure 92-64 (the "Rabbi Trust") and (ii) the payment, together with earnings on it, will be paid to you on the earlier of the six-month anniversary of your date of termination or your death or disability (within the meaning of Section 409A). Similarly, to the extent you would otherwise be entitled to any benefit (other than a payment) during the six months beginning on termination of your employment that would be subject to the Section 409A additional tax, the benefit will be delayed and will begin being provided (together, if applicable, with an adjustment to compensate you for the delay) on the earlier of the six-month anniversary of your date of termination or your death or disability (within the meaning of Section 409A).
The Company will bear all costs related to the establishment and operation of the Rabbi Trust. It is understood that the Rabbi Trust may also be used for similar arrangements with other executives of the Company.
(i) During your employment with the Company, and for a one year period after your employment terminates for any reason, your shall not, in any manner, directly or indirectly (without the prior written consent of the Company) Solicit anyone who is then an employee of the Company (or who was an employee of the Company within the prior 12 months) to resign
from the Company or to apply for or accept employment with any other business or enterprise. For this purpose, “Solicit” means any direct or indirect communication of any kind, regardless of who initiates it, that in any way invites, advises, encourages or requests any person to take or refrain from taking any action.
(ii) During the term of this Agreement and following termination of your employment for any reason, you shall not, in any manner, directly or indirectly make or publish any statement (orally or in writing) that would libel, slander, disparage, denigrate, ridicule or criticize the Company, any of its affiliates or any of their employees, officers or directors.
(iii) You agree that you will cooperate (i) with the Company in the defense of any legal claim involving any matter that arose during your employment with the Company, and (ii) with all government authorities on matters pertaining to any investigation, litigation or administrative proceeding concerning the Company. The Company will reimburse you for any reasonable travel and out of pocket expenses incurred by you in providing such cooperation.
7.Successors; Binding Agreement. (i) The Company will seek, by written request at least five (5) business days prior to the time a Person becomes a Successor (as hereinafter defined), to have such Person, by agreement in form and substance satisfactory to you, assent to the fulfillment of the Company's obligations under this Agreement. Failure of such Person to furnish such assent by the later of (A) three (3) business days prior to the time such Person becomes a Successor or (B) two (2) business days after such Person receives a written request to so assent shall constitute Good Reason for termination by you of your employment if a change in control of the Company occurs or has occurred. For purposes of this Agreement, "Successor" shall mean any Person that succeeds to, or has the practical ability to control (either immediately or with the passage of time), the Company's business directly, by merger or consolidation, or indirectly, by purchase of the Company's voting securities or otherwise.
(ii) This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by your personal or legal representatives, executors, administrators, successors, heirs, distributees, devisees and legatees. If you should die following your termination of employment while any amount would still be payable to you hereunder if you had continued to live, all such amounts, unless otherwise provided herein, shall be paid in accordance with the terms of this Agreement to your devisee, legatee or other designee or, if there be no such designee, to your estate.
(iii) For purposes of this Agreement, the "Company" shall include any corporation or other entity which is the surviving or continuing entity in respect of any merger, consolidation or form of business combination in which the Company ceases to exist.
13
8.Fees and Expenses; Mitigation. (i) The Company shall reimburse you, on a current basis upon receipt of reasonable written evidence of such fees and expenses, for all legal fees and related expenses incurred by you in connection with this Agreement (including claims under the First Horizon National Corporation Directors and Executives Deferred Compensation Plan, or any successor plan or plans thereto) following a change in control of the Company, including, without limitation, (a) all such fees and expenses, if any, incurred in contesting or disputing any termination of your employment or incurred by you in seeking advice with respect to the matters set forth in Section 5(ix) hereof or (b) your seeking to obtain or enforce any right or benefit provided by this Agreement, in each case, regardless of whether or not your claim is upheld by a court of competent jurisdiction; provided, however, you shall be required to repay any such amounts to the Company to the extent that a court issues a final and non-appealable order setting forth the determination that the position taken by you was frivolous or advanced by you in bad faith.
(ii) You shall not be required to mitigate the amount of any payment the Company becomes obligated to make to you in connection with this Agreement, by seeking other employment or otherwise.
9.Taxes. All payments to be made to you under this Agreement will be subject to required withholding of federal, state and local income and employment taxes.
10.Survival. The respective obligations of, and benefits afforded to, the Company and you as provided in Sections 5, 7(ii), 8, 9, 14 and 15 of this Agreement shall survive termination of this Agreement.
11.Notice. (i) For the purposes of this Agreement, notices and all other communications provided for in the Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given when delivered or mailed by United States registered mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid and addressed, in the case of the Company, to the address set forth on the first page of this Agreement or, in the case of the undersigned employee, to the address set forth below his signature, provided that all notices to the Company shall be directed to the attention of the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer or President of the Company, with a copy to the Secretary of the Company, or to such other address as either party may have furnished to the other in writing in accordance herewith, except that notice of change of address shall be effective only upon receipt.
(ii) A written notice of your Date of Termination by the Company or you, as the case may be, to the other, shall (i) indicate the specific termination provision in this Agreement relied upon, (ii) to the extent applicable, set forth in reasonable detail the facts and circumstances claimed to provide a basis for termination of your employment under the provision so indicated and (iii) specify the termination date (which date shall be not less than fifteen (15) (thirty (30), if termination is by the Company for Disability) nor more than sixty (60) days after the giving of
14
such notice). The failure by you or the Company to set forth in such notice any fact or circumstance which contributes to a showing of Good Reason or Cause shall not waive any right you or the Company have hereunder or preclude you or the Company from asserting such fact or circumstance in enforcing your or the Company's rights hereunder.
12.Miscellaneous. No provision of this Agreement may be modified, waived or discharged unless such modification, waiver or discharge is agreed to in a writing signed by you and, on behalf of the Company, by the Chairman of the Board, Chief Executive Officer or President of the Company. No waiver by either party hereto at any time of any breach by the other party hereto of, or of compliance with, any condition or provision of this Agreement to be performed by such other party shall be deemed a waiver of similar or dissimilar provisions or conditions at the same or at any prior or subsequent time. No agreements or representations, oral or otherwise, express or implied, with respect to the subject matter hereof have been made by either party which are not expressly set forth in this Agreement. The validity, interpretation, construction and performance of this Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee.
13.Validity. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect.
14.Employee's Commitment. You agree that subsequent to your period of employment with the Company, you will not at any time communicate or disclose to any unauthorized person, without the written consent of the Company, any proprietary processes of the Company or any Affiliate or other confidential information concerning their business, affairs, products, suppliers or customers which, if disclosed, would have a material adverse effect upon the business or operations of the Company and its Affiliates, taken as a whole; it being understood, however, that the obligations under this Section 14 shall not apply to the extent that the aforesaid matters (a) are disclosed in circumstances where you are legally required to do so or (b) become generally known to and available for use by the public otherwise than by your wrongful act or omission.
15.Related Agreements. To the extent that any provision of any other agreement between the Company or any of its Subsidiaries and you shall limit, qualify or be inconsistent with any provision of this Agreement, then for purposes of this Agreement, while the same shall remain in force, the provision of this Agreement shall control and such provision of such other agreement shall be deemed to have been superseded, and to be of no force or effect, as if such other agreement had been formally amended to the extent necessary to accomplish such purpose. Moreover, the benefits provided under this Agreement shall offset any and all benefits provided under any severance plan, program or similar arrangement (including any severance provisions of any employment agreement) of the Company and its Subsidiaries.
15
The Company will not take any action that would expose any payment or benefit to you under this Agreement or under any plan, arrangement or other agreement to the additional tax of Section 409A,unless (i) the Company is obligated to take the action under an agreement, plan or arrangement to which you are a party, (ii) you request the action, (iii) the Company advises you in writing that the action may result in the imposition of the additional taxand (iv) you subsequently request the action in a writing that acknowledges you will be responsible for any effect of the action under Section 409A. The Company will hold you harmless for any action it may take in violation of this paragraph.
It is our intention that the benefits and rights to which you could become entitled in connection with termination of employment covered under this Agreement comply with Section 409A. If you or the Company believes, at any time, that any of such benefit or right does not comply, it will promptly advise the other and will negotiate reasonably and in good faith to amend the terms of such arrangement such that it complies (with the most limited possible economic effect on you and on the Company).
16.Employment. Employment with the Company for purposes of this Agreement shall include employment with any of its Subsidiaries or with any entity which directly or indirectly beneficially owns more than 50% of the voting securities of the Company ("Parent").
17.Counterparts. This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts, each of which shall be deemed to be an original but all of which together will constitute one and the same instrument.
16
If this letter correctly sets forth our agreement on the subject matter hereof, kindly sign and return to the Company the enclosed copy of this letter which will then constitute our agreement on this subject.
Sincerely,FIRST HORIZON NATIONAL CORPORATION
By | | |
Name: Kenneth R. Bottoms | |
Title: Manager – Total Rewards | |
Agreed to this ____________day of______________________________________, 200___. | | |
(insert full name) | | |
| | |
| | |
Home Address: | | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
Title | | |
| | |
| | |
17