4. Consequences of Termination of Employment. The consequences of the Participant’s termination of employment with the Company during the Performance Period shall be as follows:
(a) in the event of the Participant’s termination of employment by the Company for “cause” (as defined in the Participant’s employment agreement with the Company), the Units shall be forfeited as of the effective date of the termination of employment.
(b) in the event of the Participant’s termination of employment by reason of death or “disability” (as defined in the Participant’s employment agreement with the Company), the number of Earned Units shall be deemed to equal the target award level payout, and the Participant’s effective date of termination of employment by reason of death or disability shall be deemed the Settlement Date for purposes of the distribution of earned shares to the Participant or the Participant’s beneficiaries.
(c) Except as provided in Sections 4(b) of this Agreement and 17(c) of the Plan, in all other instances of the Participant’s termination of employment, the Units shall be forfeited as of the effective date of termination of employment.
5. Change in Control. Upon the occurrence of a Change in Control, the Participant’s rights under this Agreement shall be determined in accordance with Section 17(c) of the Plan.
6. Clawback. Any Shares distributed pursuant to this Agreement shall be subject to the provisions of any claw-back policy implemented by the Company, including, without limitation, any claw-back policy adopted to comply with the requirements of applicable law, including without limitation the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and any rules or regulations promulgated thereunder, to the extent set forth in such claw-back policy.
7. Vesting; Service Requirement. Except as provided in Sections 4 and 5, subject to the Participant’s continuous employment through the Determination Date (including any period during which the Participant is on an approved leave of absence), the number of Earned Units determined pursuant to Section 2 shall vest on the Determination Date.
8. Code Section 409A. The Company intends that the Units shall not constitute “deferred compensation” within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code and this Agreement shall be interpreted based on such intent. In view of uncertainty surrounding Section 409A of the Code, however, if the Company determines after the Grant Date that an amendment to this Agreement is necessary or advisable so that the Units will not be subject to Section 409A of the Code, or alternatively so that they comply with Section 409A of the Code, it may make such amendment, effective as of the Grant Date or at any later date, without the consent of the Participant. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, to the extent that any payment or benefit constitutes non-exempt “nonqualified deferred compensation” for purposes of Section 409A of the Code, and such payment or benefit would otherwise be payable or distributable hereunder by reason of the Participant’s termination of employment, all references to the Participant’s termination of employment shall be construed to mean a “separation from service,” as defined in Treasury Regulation Section 1.409A-1(h), and the Participant shall not be considered to have a termination of employment unless such termination constitutes a Separation from Service with respect to the Participant.
9. Tax Withholding. The Company shall withhold from the Common Stock delivered in settlement shares having a Fair Market Value on the Settlement Date, equal to the amount necessary to satisfy the minimum required withholding, if any, of any income tax, social tax, or other taxes (but rounding up to the nearest whole number of shares). In lieu of withholding shares of Stock, the Committee may, in its discretion, authorize the satisfaction of tax withholding by a cash payment to the Company or by such other method as the Committee determines may be appropriate to satisfy all obligations for withholding of such taxes. The obligations of the Company under this award of Units will be conditioned on such satisfaction of the required withholding. The Participant acknowledges that the tax consequences associated with this award of Units are complex and that the Company has urged the Participant to review with the Participant’s own tax advisors the federal, state and local tax consequences of this award of Units. The
2