Executive Performance Unit Continuous Vesting Grant Agreement
5. In the event your employment with the Company and its Subsidiaries is terminated for any reason whatsoever (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) and within 18 months after such termination date you accept employment with a competitor of, or otherwise engage in competition with, the Company, the Committee, in its sole discretion, may require you to return, or (if not received) to forfeit, to the Company the payments made (or to be made) hereunder which you have received (or will receive) at any time on or after the date which is six months prior to the date of termination of your employment with the Company. Additionally, all Units granted to you hereunder which are outstanding shall be automatically cancelled upon commencement of your competitive engagement.
6. You will be required to satisfy all Federal, state and local tax and payroll withholding obligations, and any other withholding obligations, arising in respect of any distribution of, or right to receive any distribution of, cash to you. Such withholding obligations will be deducted from your Units.
7. Except as otherwise provided in accordance with an election permitted under a deferred compensation plan approved by the Committee, any payment of a Performance Award shall be made (i) after the Vesting Date but in no event later than March 15, 20__; or (ii) in the event of your earlier Severance, within 30 days after your Severance.
8. Any notice to you under this Grant Agreement shall be sufficient if in writing and if delivered to you or mailed to you at the address on record in the Executive Compensation Department. Any notice to the Company under this Grant Agreement shall be sufficient if in writing and if delivered to the Executive Compensation Department of the Company in Akron, Ohio, or mailed by registered mail directed to the Company for the attention of the Executive Compensation Department at 200 Innovation Way, Akron, Ohio 44316-0001. Either you or the Company may, by written notice, change the address. This Grant Agreement shall be construed and shall take effect in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio.
9. The obligations of the Company under this Grant Agreement will be merely that of an unfunded and unsecured promise of the Company to deliver cash in the future, and your rights will be no greater than that of an unsecured general creditor. No assets of the Company will be held or set aside as security for the obligations of the Company under this Grant Agreement.
10. It is intended that this Grant Agreement shall either be exempt from the application of, or comply with, the requirements of Section 409A of the Code. This Grant Agreement shall be construed, administered and governed in a manner that effects such intent, and the Committee shall not take any action that would be inconsistent with such intent. Without limiting the foregoing, the Units shall not be deferred, accelerated, extended, paid out, settled, adjusted, substituted, exchanged or modified in a manner that would cause the award to fail to satisfy the conditions of an applicable exception from the requirements of Section 409A of the Code or otherwise would subject you to the additional tax imposed under Section 409A of the Code.
Notwithstanding anything contained in this Grant Agreement to the contrary, if you are a “specified employee,” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code, with December 31 being the specified employee identification date and the following January 1 being the specified employee effective date, on the date you incur a separation from service, then to the extent required in order to comply with Section 409A of the Code, all payments under this Grant Agreement that constitute a “deferral of compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code, that are provided as a result of a separation from service and that would otherwise be paid during the first six months following such separation from service shall be accumulated through and paid (together with interest on any cash amounts at the applicable federal rate under Section 7872(f)(2)(A) of the Code in effect on the date of termination), on the first business day that is more than six months following your separation from service (or, if you die during such six-month period, within 90 days after your death).