benefits under this letter agreement which are subject to Section 409A until you have incurred a “separation from service” within the meaning of Section 409A. Each amount to be paid or benefit to be provided under this letter agreement will be construed as a separate identified payment for purposes of Section 409A. To the extent required in order to avoid accelerated taxation and/or tax penalties as a “specified employee” under Section 409A, payments and benefits that would otherwise be paid or provided pursuant to this letter agreement or any other arrangement between you and Sysco during thesix-month period immediately following your separation from service will instead be paid on the first business day after the date that is six months following your separation from service (or, if earlier, your date of death). To the extent required to avoid any accelerated or additional tax under Section 409A, amounts reimbursable to you under this letter agreement will be paid to you on or before the last day of the year following the year in which the expense was incurred and the amount of expenses eligible for reimbursement (andin-kind benefits provided to you) during one year may not affect amounts reimbursable or provided in any subsequent year. If your date of termination occurs after November 1 of a given calendar year, any severance payments provided in this letter agreement shall be paid (or commence to be paid) in January of the immediately following calendar year. Sysco makes no representation that any or all of the payments and benefits described in this letter agreement will be exempt from or comply with Section 409A and will exercise commercially reasonable efforts to preclude Section 409A from applying to any such payment.
Definitions. For purposes of this letter agreement, the following terms have the meanings set forth as follows:
“Cause” means your (1) conviction of, or plea of nolo contendere to a felony under federal law or the law of the state in which such action occurred, (2) dishonesty in the course of fulfilling your employment or service duties, (3) willful and deliberate failure to perform your employment or service duties in any material respect or (4) your violation of anynon-competition,non-solicitation, confidentiality or other restrictive covenants agreement or code of conduct applicable to you.
“Change in Control Termination” means a termination of your employment by Sysco without
Cause or your resignation of employment with Sysco for Good Reason, either occurring during the period beginning on the date a Change in Control (as defined in the Plan) occurs and ending on the second anniversary thereof.
“Good Reason” means the occurrence of one or more of the following, without your consent: (1) a material diminution in your authority, duties or responsibilities; (2) a material change in the geographic location at which you must perform services for the Company or its subsidiaries; (3) a material diminution in the authority, duties or responsibilities of the Chairman (unless you are then reporting to the Board); or (4) a material diminution in your Base Salary. You must provide written notice of your intent to terminate for Good Reason to Sysco within 30 days after the event constituting Good Reason. Sysco shall have a period of 30 days in which it may correct the act or failure to act that constitutes the grounds for Good Reason as set forth in your notice of termination. If Sysco does not correct the act or failure to act, you must terminate your employment for Good Reason within 30 days after the end of the cure period, in order for the termination to be considered a Good Reason termination.
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