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EXHIBIT 10.50
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
This Employment Agreement (the "Agreement") is made and entered into
this 25th day of February, 1997, by and between MEDAPHIS CORPORATION, a Delaware
corporation (the "Company"), and Daniel S. Connors, Jr., a resident of the State
of Pennsylvania (the "Employee").
Statement of Background Information
The Company renders to hospitals, physicians, and/or other healthcare
organizations and providers: (a) billing services, accounts receivable
management services, collection services, electronic claims services, financial
management services, and practice and facilities management services: (b)
eligibility verification and certification for Medicaid, Medicare and other
healthcare assistance programs; (c) filing and other medical claims
securitization services; (d) medical coverage information services; and (e)
medical and insurance claims monitoring and tracking services (collectively the
"Processing Business").
The company also provides subrogation and related recovery services for
healthcare payors, including health maintenance organizations, indemnity
insurers, Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations, third-party administrators,
self-funded employee health welfare benefit plans, and provider hospital
organizations (the "Subrogation Business").
The Company also: (a) develops, markets and licenses to hospitals,
integrated healthcare delivery systems, and other healthcare providers and other
end users (collectively "Providers"), (i) strategic, operational and financial
information systems and services and decision support tools for healthcare
providers, (ii) software systems which provide claims and reimbursement services
and electronic claims processing, and (iii) software applications which assist
Providers with automated scheduling and resource management (the items discussed
in Sections (a)(i), (a)(ii) and (a)(iii) of this paragraph are referred to as
"Systems"), which Systems include, but are not limited to, nurse scheduling and
management information systems, operating room patient scheduling and surgery
information systems, enterprise wide patient scheduling and resource management
systems, enterprise-wide employee scheduling and management information systems
and related software interfaces to other information systems; and (b) provides
to Providers installation and support services related to the Company's Systems
(the "Systems Business").
The Company also renders professional services with respect to the
development of computer software, algorithms, design, documentation, and related
materials, and the development, design, deployment, and operation of local and
wide area computer networks, all in conjunction with the sale, design,
deployment, operation and maintenance of custom computer processing systems for
improvement of operational efficiency or functionality through the use of image
storage and processing, work flow technology, optical character recognition or
other related technologies (the
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"System Integration Business") (the Processing Business, the Subrogation
Business, the Systems Business, the Systems Integration Business and any other
distinct business segment in which the Company engages during Employee's
employment are collectively referred to as the "Business").
In consideration of the mutual covenants, promises and conditions set
forth in this Agreement, and for other good and valuable consideration, the
receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged, the parties agree as
follows:
1. Employment. The Company hereby employs Employee and Employee hereby
accepts such employment upon the terms and conditions set forth in this
Agreement. For purposes of Sections 7 and 8 of this Agreement,
"employment" shall mean any period of time during which the Company is
paying the Employee salary, wages, or any other amounts, whether or not
the Employee is currently performing services for the Company at the
time of such payment. Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the
contrary, in the event the Company is paying the Employee salary,
wages, benefits, severance or any other sums of money after termination
of Employee's employment with the Company, and Employee obtains any
other employment for consideration in any capacity, then such payments
will (i) cease immediately if Employee's employment with the Company
was terminated as a result of the occurrence of any events described in
Section 4(a)(i) through 4(a)(iv) hereof ("terminated for cause"), or
(ii) be reduced by an amount equal to the value of consideration
received in connection with or as a result of such other employment if
Employee was terminated other than as a result of the occurrence of any
events described in Section 4(a)(i) through 4(a)(iv) hereof
("terminated without cause").
2. Duties of Employee. Employee's initial title will be Senior Vice
President, Personnel and Administration, and Employee initially will
report directly to the Chief Executive Officer and/or President of the
Company. Employee initially will be responsible for managing and
directing the Company's Corporate Services and Corporate Information
Management Groups and agrees to perform and discharge such other duties
as may be assigned to Employee from time to time by the Company to the
reasonable satisfaction of the Company. Employee also agrees to comply
with all of the Company's policies, standards and regulations and to
follow the instructions and directives of Employee's superiors within
the Company, as promulgated by the officers of the Company. Employee
will devote Employee's full professional and business-related time,
skills and best efforts to such duties and will not, during the term of
this Agreement, be engaged (whether or not during normal business
hours) in any other business or professional activity, whether or not
such activity is pursued for gain, profit or other pecuniary advantage,
without the prior written consent of the President of the Company,
which consent will not be unreasonably withheld. This Section will not
be construed to prevent Employee from (a) investing personal assets in
businesses which do not compete with the Company in such form or manner
that will not require any services on the part of Employee in the
operation or the affairs of the companies in which such investments
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are made and in which Employee's participation is solely that of an
investor; (b) purchasing securities in any corporation whose securities
are listed on a national securities exchange or regularly traded in the
over-the-counter market, provided that Employee at no time owns,
directly or indirectly, in excess of one percent (1%) of the
outstanding stock of any class of any such corporation engaged in a
business competitive with that of the Company; or (c) participating in
conferences, preparing and publishing papers or books or teaching, so
long as the President of the Company approves such participation,
preparation and publication or teaching prior to Employee's engaging
therein.
3. Term. The term of this Agreement will be for a two year period of time,
commencing as of November 20, 1996 and expiring on November 20, 1998,
subject to earlier termination as provided for in Section 4 of this
Agreement.
4. Termination.
(a) Termination by Company for Cause. Notwithstanding anything
contained in Section 3 to the contrary, the Company may
terminate this Agreement and all of its obligations hereunder
immediately if any of the following events occur:
(i) Employee materially breaches any of the terms or
conditions set forth in this Agreement and fails to cure such
breach within ten (10) days after Employee's receipt from the
Company of written notice of such breach (notwithstanding the
foregoing, no cure period shall be applicable to breaches by
Employee of Sections 6, 7 or 8 of this Agreement);
(ii) Employee commits any other act materially detrimental to
the business or reputation of the Company;
(iii) Employee engages in dishonest or illegal activities or
commits or is convicted of any crime involving fraud, deceit
or moral turpitude; or
(iv) Employee dies or becomes mentally or physically
incapacitated or disabled so as to be unable to perform
Employee's duties under this Agreement. Without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, Employee's inability adequately
to perform services under this Agreement for a period of sixty
(60) consecutive days will be conclusive evidence of such
mental or physical incapacity or disability, unless such
inability adequately to perform services under this Agreement
is pursuant to a mental or physical incapacity or disability
covered by the Family Medical Leave Act, in which case such
sixty (60)-day period shall be extended to a one hundred and
twenty (120)-day period.
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(b) Termination by Company Without Cause. Notwithstanding anything
contained in Section 3 to the contrary, the Company may
terminate Employee's employment pursuant to this Agreement
without cause upon at least thirty (30) days' prior written
notice to Employee. Subject to the provisions of clause (ii)
of Section 1 hereof, in the event Employee's employment with
the Company is terminated by the Company without cause, the
Company shall remain subject to its obligations hereunder as
if Employee remained employed hereunder for the balance of the
term hereof, as provided in Section 3 above.
5. Compensation and Benefits.
a) Annual Salary. During the term of this Agreement and for all
services rendered by Employee under this Agreement, the Company will
pay Employee a base salary of One Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars
($150,000.00) per annum in equal bi-weekly installments. Such annual
salary will be subject to adjustments by any increases given in the
normal course of business.
b) Incentive Compensation. Beginning on January 1, 1997 and lasting
through the remaining term of the Agreement, Employee shall be entitled
to incentive compensation payments in accordance with the Incentive
Compensation Plan for Medaphis Corporation and its Subsidiary
Corporations (the "Incentive Compensation Plan"). In the event the
Company achieves the parameters set forth in the Plan, such incentive
compensation payments will be limited in the aggregate to 40% of
Employee's base salary.
c) Stock Options. As soon as reasonably practicable after the signing
of this Agreement, and subject to the approval of the Compensation
Committee of the Board of Directors of Medaphis Corporation, the
Company will cause Medaphis to issue to Employee, effective as of the
date approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors
of Medaphis Corporation, options to purchase Fifty Thousand (50,000)
shares of Medaphis Common Stock pursuant to the terms and conditions of
the Amended and Restated Medaphis Corporation Non-Qualified Stock
Option Plan ("Stock Option Plan"), as amended. Such options will vest
at the rate of thirty-three percent (33%) per year for a three-year
period beginning on the starting date of this Agreement, subject to the
terms and conditions of the Stock Option Plan. The grant of options
referenced in this Section is the same grant of options which was
previously communicated to Employee via letter from David McDowell on
Tuesday, November 26, 1996, and does not represent an additional grant
of options to Employee. Employee shall be considered for additional
grants of options to purchase shares of Medaphis common stock in a
manner which is consistent with other senior officers of the Company.
However, nothing in this Agreement shall give rise to a contractual
right to Employee to receive grants of additional stock options of
Medaphis. Further, Medaphis has
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no obligation to Employee to create parity with any other Medaphis
executives with respect to any options granted to such other
executives.
d) Other Benefits. Employee will be entitled to such fringe benefits as
may be provided from time-to-time by the Company to its employees,
including, but not limited to, group health insurance, life and
disability insurance, vacations and any other fringe benefits now or
hereafter provided by the Company to its employees, if and when
Employee meets the eligibility requirements for any such benefit. The
Company reserves the right to change or discontinue any employee
benefit plans or programs now being offered to its employees; provided,
however, that all benefits provided for employees of the same position
and status as Employee will be provided to Employee on an equal basis.
e) Business Expenses. Employee will be reimbursed for all reasonable
expenses incurred in the discharge of Employee's duties under this
Agreement pursuant to the Company's standard reimbursement policies.
f) Withholding. The Company will deduct and withhold from the payments
made to Employee under this Agreement, state and federal income taxes,
FICA and other amounts normally withheld from compensation due
employees.
g) Relocation Expenses. Provided Employee supplies the Company with
adequate documentation, Employee will be compensated for the following
expenses associated with Employee's relocation from Pennsylvania to
Atlanta, Georgia :
i. Employee will be reimbursed for all reasonable and
customary costs incurred by Employee in connection
with the sale of Employee's existing residence in the
State of Pennsylvania;
ii. Employee will be reimbursed for all reasonable and
customary costs incurred by Employee in connection
with the acquisition of Employee's new residence in
the State of Georgia;
iii. Employee will receive a temporary housing allowance
of $2,000.00 per month, not to exceed three months,
to allow Employee to locate an acceptable residence;
and
iv. Employee will be reimbursed for all reasonable and
customary moving costs incurred by Employee in
connection with his relocation from the State of
Pennsylvania to the State of Georgia.
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h) Tax Gross-Up Payment. Employee will receive a payment from the
Company (the "Tax Gross-Up Payment") in an amount equal to the federal
and state income taxes payable by Employee as a result of the amounts
reimbursed to Employee under Section 5(g) of this Agreement and the Tax
Gross-Up Payment, after taking into consideration any income tax
deductions available to Employee with respect to any such expenses so
reimbursed. Such Tax Gross-Up Payments shall be paid to Employee at
such time or times as Employee shall provide the Company with
sufficient documentation to calculate the same.
i) Attorney's Fees. Employee will be reimbursed for reasonable
attorney's fees, not to exceed Three Thousand Dollars ($3,000.00), in
connection with the review of this Agreement by Employee's legal
counsel.
j) House Loan. The Company agrees to loan Employee Seventy-Five
Thousand Dollars ($75,000.00) for the purpose of securing his Georgia
residence. Employee agrees to secure this loan with a second mortgage
on Employee's residence. The parties agree that this loan will be
forgiven on a pro-rata basis over a five year period (forgiven at a
rate of $15,000.00 per year), so that in the event Employee remains
employed with the Company following the end of five years from the
effective date of this Agreement, he will not be required to repay this
loan. In the event Employee is terminated from the Company for any
reason, that portion of the loan which has not yet been forgiven will
be immediately due and owing to the Company.
k) Departure of David E. McDowell. In the event David E. McDowell, for
whatever reason, leaves his position as the Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Medaphis Corporation, Employee will be provided
sixty (60) days within which to decide whether Employee desires to
remain employed by the Company. In the event Employee elects to
continue his employment with the Company following such a departure
from the Company by David E. McDowell, this Agreement will remain in
effect according to all of its terms. In the event Employee elects to
resign following the departure from the Company of David E. McDowell,
Employee will be entitled to have the remaining portion of this
Agreement paid out according to its terms.
6. Non-Disclosure of Proprietary Information. Employee recognizes and
acknowledges that the Trade Secrets (as defined below) and Confidential
Information (as defined below) of the Company and its affiliates and
all physical embodiments thereof (as they may exist from time-to-time,
collectively, the "Proprietary Information") are valuable, special and
unique assets of the Company's and its affiliates' businesses. Employee
further acknowledges that access to such Proprietary Information is
essential to the performance of Employee's duties under this Agreement.
Therefore, in order to obtain access to such Proprietary Information,
Employee agrees that Employee shall hold in confidence all Proprietary
Information and will not reproduce, use, distribute, disclose, publish
or otherwise disseminate any Proprietary
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Information, in whole or in part, and will take no action causing, or
fail to take any action necessary to prevent causing, any Proprietary
Information to lose its character as Proprietary Information, nor will
Employee make use of any such information for Employee's own purposes
or for the benefit of any person, firm, corporation, association or
other entity (except the Company) under any circumstances.
For purposes of this Agreement, the term "Trade Secrets" means
information, including, but not limited to, any technical or
nontechnical data, formula, pattern, compilation, program, device,
method, technique, drawing, process, financial data, financial plan,
product plan, list of actual or potential customers or suppliers, or
other information similar to any of the foregoing, which derives
economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to,
and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons
who can derive economic value from its disclosure or use. For purposes
of this Agreement, the term "Trade Secrets" does not include
information that Employee can show by competent proof (i) was known to
Employee and reduced to writing prior to disclosure by the Company (but
only if Employee promptly notifies the Company of Employee's prior
knowledge); (ii) was generally known to the public at the time the
Company disclosed the information to Employee; (iii) became generally
known to the public after disclosure by the Company through no act or
omission of Employee; or (iv) was disclosed to Employee by a third
party having a bona fide right both to possess the information and to
disclose the information to Employee. The term "Confidential
Information" means any data or information of the Company, other than
trade secrets, which is valuable to the Company and not generally known
to competitors of the Company. The provisions of this Section 6 will
apply to Trade Secrets for so long as such information remains a trade
secret and to Confidential Information during Employee's employment
with the Company and for a period of two (2) years following any
termination of Employee's employment with the Company for whatever
reason.
7.A. Non-Competition Covenant. During Employee's employment by the Company
and for a period of two (2) years following any termination of
Employee's employment for whatever reason, Employee will not, directly
or indirectly, on Employee's own behalf or in the service of or on
behalf of any other individual or entity, compete with the Company
within the Geographical Area (as hereinafter defined). The term
"compete" means to engage in, have any equity or profit interest in,
make any loan to or for the benefit of, or render any services of any
kind to, directly or indirectly, on Employee's own behalf or in the
service of or on behalf of any other individual or entity, either as a
proprietor, employee, agent, independent contractor, consultant,
director, officer, partner or stockholder (other than a stockholder of
a corporation listed on a national securities exchange or whose stock
is regularly traded in the over-the-counter market, provided that
Employee at no time owns, directly or indirectly, in excess of one
percent (1%) of the outstanding stock of any class of any such
corporation) any business which provides Business services. For
purposes of this Agreement, the term
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"Geographical Area" means the territory located within a seventy-five
(75) mile radius of each facility for which Employee has management
responsibility during Employee's employment with the Company.
B. Non-Solicitation of Clients Covenant. Employee agrees that during
Employee's employment by the Company and for a period of two (2) years
following the termination of Employee's employment for whatever reason,
Employee will not, directly or indirectly, on Employee's own behalf or
in the service of or on behalf of any other individual or entity,
divert, solicit or attempt to solicit any individual or entity (i) who
is a client of the Company at any time during the six (6)-month period
prior to Employee's termination of employment with the Company
("Client"), or was actively sought by the Company as a prospective
client, and (ii) with whom Employee had material contact while employed
by the Company to provide Business services to such Clients or
prospects.
C. Construction. The parties hereto agree that any judicial authority
construing all or any portion of this Section 7 or Section 8 below may,
if it chooses, sever any portion of the Geographical Area, client base,
prospective relationship or prospect list or any prohibited business
activity from the coverage of such Section and to apply the provisions
of such Section to the remaining portion of the Geographical Area, the
client base or the prospective relationship or prospect list, or the
remaining business activities not so severed by such judicial
authority. In addition, it is the intent of the parties that the
judicial authority may, if it chooses, replace each such severed
provision with a provision as similar in terms to such severed
provision as may be possible and be legal, valid and enforceable. It is
the intent of the parties that Sections 7 and 8 be enforced to the
maximum extent permitted by law. In the event that any provision of
either such Section is determined not to be specifically enforceable,
the Company shall nevertheless be entitled to bring an action to seek
to recover monetary damages as a result of the breach of such provision
by Employee.
8. Non-Solicitation of Employees Covenant. Employee further agrees and
represents that during Employee's employment by the Company and for a
period of two (2) years following any termination of Employee's
employment for whatever reason, Employee will not, directly or
indirectly, on Employee's own behalf or in the service of, or on behalf
of any other individual or entity, divert, solicit or hire away, or
attempt to divert, solicit or hire away, to or for any individual or
entity which is engaged in providing Business services, any person
employed by the Company for whom Employee had supervisory
responsibility or with whom Employee had material contact while
employed by the Company, whether or not such employee is a full-time
employee or temporary employee of the Company, whether or not such
employee is employed pursuant to written agreement and whether or not
such employee is employed for a determined period or at-will.
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9. Existing Restrictive Covenants. Employee represents and warrants that
Employee's employment with the Company does not and will not breach any
agreement which Employee has with any former employer to keep in
confidence confidential information or not to compete with any such
former employer. Employee will not disclose to the Company or use on
its behalf any confidential information of any other party required to
be kept confidential by Employee.
10. Return of Proprietary Information. Employee acknowledges that as a
result of Employee's employment with the Company, Employee may come
into the possession and control of Proprietary Information, such as
proprietary documents, drawings, specifications, manuals, notes,
computer programs, or other proprietary material. Employee
acknowledges, warrants and agrees that Employee will return to the
Company all such items and any copies or excerpts thereof, and any
other properties, files or documents obtained as a result of Employee's
employment with the Company, immediately upon the termination of
Employee's employment with the Company.
11. Proprietary Rights. During the course of Employee's employment with the
Company, Employee may make, develop or conceive of useful processes,
machines, compositions of matter, computer software, algorithms, works
of authorship expressing such algorithm, or any other discovery, idea,
concept, document or improvement which relates to or is useful to the
Company's Business (the "Inventions"), whether or not subject to
copyright or patent protection, and which may or may not be considered
Proprietary Information. Employee acknowledges that all such Inventions
will be "works made for hire" under United States copyright law and
will remain the sole and exclusive property of the Company. Employee
also hereby assigns and agrees to assign to the Company, in perpetuity,
all right, title and interest Employee may have in and to such
Inventions, including without limitation, all copyrights, and the right
to apply for any form of patent, utility model, industrial design or
similar proprietary right recognized by any state, country or
jurisdiction. Employee further agrees, at the Company's request and
expense, to do all things and sign all documents or instruments
necessary, in the opinion of the Company, to eliminate any ambiguity as
to the ownership of, and rights of the Company to, such Inventions,
including filing copyright and patent registrations and defending and
enforcing in litigation or otherwise all such rights.
Employee will not be obligated to assign to the Company any Invention
made by Employee while in the Company's employ which does not relate to
any business or activity in which the Company is or may reasonably be
expected to become engaged, except that Employee is so obligated if the
same relates to or is based on Proprietary Information to which
Employee will have had access during and by virtue of Employee's
employment or which arises out of work assigned to Employee by the
Company. Employee will not be obligated to assign any Invention which
may be wholly conceived by Employee after Employee leaves
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the employ of the Company, except that Employee is so obligated if such
Invention involves the utilization of Proprietary Information obtained
while in the employ of the Company. Employee is not obligated to assign
any Invention which relates to or would be useful in any business or
activities in which the Company is engaged if such Invention was
conceived and reduced to practice by Employee prior to Employee's
employment with the Company, provided that all such Inventions are
listed at the time of employment on the attached Exhibit A.
12. Remedies. Employee agrees and acknowledges that the violation of any of
the covenants or agreements contained in Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
of this Agreement would cause irreparable injury to the Company, that
the remedy at law for any such violation or threatened violation
thereof would be inadequate, and that the Company will be entitled, in
addition to any other remedy, to temporary and permanent injunctive or
other equitable relief without the necessity of proving actual damages
or posting a bond.
13. Notices. Any notice or communication under this Agreement will be in
writing and sent by registered or certified mail addressed to the
respective parties as follows:
If to the Company: If to Employee:
2700 Cumberland Parkway Daniel S. Connors, Jr.
Suite 300 2700 Cumberland Parkway
Atlanta, GA 30339 Suite 300
Attn: General Counsel Atlanta, GA 30339
14. Severability. Subject to the application of Section 7(C) to the
interpretation of Sections 7 and 8, in case one or more of the
provisions contained in this Agreement is for any reason held to be
invalid, illegal or unenforceable in any respect, the parties agree
that it is their intent that the same will not affect any other
provision in this Agreement, and this Agreement will be construed as if
such invalid or illegal or unenforceable provision had never been
contained herein. It is the intent of the parties that this Agreement
be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law.
15. Entire Agreement. This Agreement embodies the entire agreement of the
parties relating to the subject matter of this Agreement and supersedes
all prior agreements, oral or written, regarding the subject matter
hereof. No amendment or modification of this Agreement will be valid or
binding upon the parties unless made in writing and signed by the
parties.
16. Binding Effect. This Agreement will be binding upon the parties and
their respective heirs, representatives, successors, transferees and
permitted assigns.
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17. Assignment. This Agreement is one for personal services and will not be
assigned by Employee. The Company may assign this Agreement to its
parent company or to any of its subsidiaries or affiliated companies;
provided that the parent or any subsidiary or affiliate fulfills the
obligations of the Company under this Agreement.
18. Governing Law. This Agreement is entered into and will be interpreted
and enforced pursuant to the laws of the State of Georgia. The parties
hereto hereby agree that the appropriate forum and venue for any
disputes between any of the parties hereto arising out of this
Agreement shall be any federal court in the state where the Company has
its principal place of business and each of the parties hereto hereby
submits to the personal jurisdiction of any such court. The foregoing
shall not limit the rights of any party to obtain execution of judgment
in any other jurisdiction. The parties further agree, to the extent
permitted by law, that a final and unappealable judgment against either
of them in any action or proceeding contemplated above shall be
conclusive and may be enforced in any other jurisdiction within or
outside the United States by suit on the judgment, a certified
exemplified copy of which shall be conclusive evidence of the fact and
amount of such judgment.
19. Surviving Terms. Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12 of this Agreement
shall survive termination of this Agreement.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the
day and year first above written.
COMPANY: EMPLOYEE:
MEDAPHIS CORPORATION
By: /s/ David McDowell /s/ Daniel S. Connors, Jr.
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Daniel S. Connors, Jr.
Title: CEO
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EXHIBIT A
INVENTIONS
Employee represents that there are no Inventions.
DSC, Jr.
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Employee Initials
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