Article 14—Termination of Employee’s Rights.
Whenever a participant ceases to be an eligible employee because of retirement, voluntary or involuntary termination, resignation, layoff, discharge, death or for any other reason, his or her rights under the Plan shall immediately terminate, and the Company shall promptly refund, without interest, the entire balance of his or her payroll deduction account under the Plan; provided, however, that if an employee is laid off during the last three months of any Payment Period, he shall nevertheless be deemed to be a participant in the Plan on the last day of the Payment Period. Notwithstanding the foregoing, eligible employment shall be treated as continuing intact while a participant is on military leave, sick leave or other bona fide leave of absence, for up to 90 days, or, if such leave is longer than 90 days, for so long as the participant’s right to re-employment is guaranteed either by statute or by written contract. Notwithstanding any other provision herein, if a participant’s employment is terminated by reason of retirement, and the date of such termination occurs after the date that is 3 months prior to the last day of the Payment Period, such participant’s rights under the Plan are not immediately terminated, and if the participant has not withdrawn from the Plan, such participant’s options shall be deemed to have been exercised on the last day of the Payment Period in accordance with the terms of the Plan.
Article 15—Termination and Amendments to Plan.
The Plan may be terminated at any time by the Company’s Board of Directors but such termination shall not affect options then outstanding under the Plan. If at any time shares of stock reserved for the purpose of the Plan remain available for purchase but not in sufficient number to satisfy all then unfilled purchase requirements, the available shares shall be apportioned among participants in proportion to the amount of payroll deductions accumulated on behalf of each participant that would otherwise be used to purchase stock, and the Plan shall terminate. Upon such termination or any other termination of the Plan, all payroll deductions not used to purchase stock will be refunded, without interest.
The Committee or the Board of Directors may from time to time adopt amendments to the Plan provided that, without the approval of the shareholders of the Company, no amendment may (i) increase the number of shares that may be issued under the Plan; (ii) change the class of employees eligible to receive options under the Plan, if such action would be treated as the adoption of a new plan for purposes of Code Section 423(b) and the regulations thereunder; (iii) cause Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 to become inapplicable to the Plan or (iv) materially revise the Plan pursuant to the rules and regulations of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC.
Article 16—Limits on Sale of Stock Purchased under the Plan.
The Plan is intended to provide shares of Common Stock for investment and not for resale. The Company does not, however, intend to restrict or influence any employee in the conduct of his or her own affairs. An employee may, therefore, sell stock purchased under the Plan at any time the employee chooses, subject to compliance with any applicable federal or state securities laws and subject to any restrictions imposed under Article 21 to ensure that tax withholding obligations are satisfied. THE EMPLOYEE ASSUMES THE RISK OF ANY MARKET FLUCTUATIONS IN THE PRICE OF THE STOCK.
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