EXHIBIT 10.9
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT
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THIS AGREEMENT entered into this 31 st day of May, 1998 ("Effective
Date"), by and between Landmark Federal Savings Bank (the "Bank") and ▇▇▇▇▇ ▇.
▇▇▇▇▇▇▇ (the "Employee").
WHEREAS, the Employee has heretofore been employed by the Bank as
Senior Vice President and is experienced in all phases of the business of the
Bank; and
WHEREAS, the parties have previously enter into an Employment Agreement
dated September 30, 1994, as subsequently amended and renewed; and
WHEREAS, the parties desire by this writing to set forth the continuing
employment relationship of the Bank and the Employee.
NOW, THEREFORE, it is AGREED as follows:
1. Employment. The Employee is employed in the capacity as the Senior
Vice President of the Bank. The Employee shall render such administrative and
management services to the Bank and Landmark Bancshares, Inc. ("Parent") as are
currently rendered and as are customarily performed by persons situated in a
similar executive capacity. The Employee shall also promote, by entertainment or
otherwise, as and to the extent permitted by law, the business of the Bank and
Parent. The Employee's other duties shall be such as the Board of Directors for
the Bank (the "Board of Directors" or "Board") may from time to time reasonably
direct, including normal duties as an officer of the Bank.
2. Base Compensation. The Bank agrees to pay the Employee during the
term of this Agreement a salary at the rate of $60,000 per annum, payable in
cash not less frequently than monthly; provided, that the rate of such salary
shall be reviewed by the Board of Directors not less often than annually, and
Employee shall be entitled to receive annually an increase at such percentage or
in such an amount as the Board of Directors in its sole discretion may decide at
such time.
3. Discretionary Bonus. The Employee shall be entitled to participate
in an equitable manner with all other senior management employees of the Bank in
discretionary bonuses that may be authorized and declared by the Board of
Directors to its senior management employees from time to time. No other
compensation provided for in this Agreement shall be deemed a substitute for the
Employee's right to participate in such discretionary bonuses when and as
declared by the Board of Directors.
4. (a) Participation in Retirement and Medical Plans. The
Employee shall be entitled to participate in any plan of the Bank relating to
pension, profit-sharing, or other retirement benefits
and medical coverage or reimbursement plans that the Bank may adopt for the
benefit of its employees.
(b) Employee Benefits; Expenses. The Employee shall be eligible to
participate in any fringe benefits which may be or may become applicable to the
Bank's senior management employees, including by example, participation in any
stock option or incentive plans adopted by the Board of Directors of Bank or
Parent, club memberships, a reasonable expense account, and any other benefits
which are commensurate with the responsibilities and functions to be performed
by the Employee under this Agreement. The Bank shall reimburse Employee for all
reasonable out-of-pocket expenses which Employee shall incur in connection with
his service for the Bank.
5. Term. The term of employment of Employee under this Agreement shall
be for the period commencing on the Effective Date and ending twelve (12) months
thereafter ("Term"). Additionally, on each annual anniversary date from the
Effective Date, the term of employment under this Agreement shall be extended
for an additional one year period beyond the then effective expiration date upon
a determination and resolution of the Board of Directors that the performance of
the Employee has met the requirements and standards of the Board, and that the
term of such Agreement shall be extended.
6. Loyalty; Noncompetition.
(a) The Employee shall devote his full time and attention to the
performance of his employment under this Agreement. During the term of
Employee's employment under this Agreement, the Employee shall not engage in any
business or activity contrary to the business affairs or interests of the Bank
or Parent.
(b) Nothing contained in this Paragraph 6 shall be deemed to prevent or
limit the right of Employee to invest in the capital stock or other securities
of any business dissimilar from that of the Bank or Parent, or, solely as a
passive or minority investor, in any business.
7. Standards. The Employee shall perform his duties under this
Agreement in accordance with such reasonable standards expected of employees
with comparable positions in comparable organizations and as may be established
from time to time by the Board of Directors.
8. Vacation and Sick Leave. At such reasonable times as the Board of
Directors shall in its discretion permit, the Employee shall be entitled,
without loss of pay, to absent himself voluntarily from the performance of his
employment under this Agreement, with all such voluntary absences to count as
vacation time; provided that:
(a) The Employee shall be entitled to annual vacation leave in
accordance with the policies as are periodically established by the Board of
Directors for senior management employees of the Bank.
(b) The Employee shall not be entitled to receive any additional
compensation from the Bank on account of his failure to take vacation leave and
Employee shall not be entitled to accumulate unused vacation from one fiscal
year to the next, except in either case to the extent authorized by the Board of
Directors for senior management employees of the Bank.
(c) In addition to the aforesaid paid vacations, the Employee shall be
entitled without loss of pay, to absent himself voluntarily from the performance
of his employment with the Bank for such additional periods of time and for such
valid and legitimate reasons as the Board of Directors in its discretion may
determine. Further, the Board of Directors shall be entitled to grant to the
Employee a leave or leaves of absence with or without pay at such time or times
and upon such terms and conditions as the Board of Directors in its discretion
may determine.
(d) In addition, the Employee shall be entitled to an annual sick leave
benefit as established by the Board of Directors for senior management employees
of the Bank. In the event that any sick leave benefit shall not have been used
during any year, such leave shall accrue to subsequent years only to the extent
authorized by the Board of Directors for employees of the Bank.
9. Termination and Termination Pay.
The Employee's employment under this Agreement shall be terminated upon
any of the following occurrences:
(a) The death of the Employee during the term of this Agreement, in
which event the Employee's estate shall be entitled to receive the compensation
due the Employee through the last day of the calendar month which is three (3)
months after the Employee's death.
(b) The Board of Directors may terminate the Employee's employment at
any time, but any termination by the Board of Directors other than termination
for Just Cause, shall not prejudice the Employee's right to compensation or
other benefits under the Agreement. The Employee shall have no right to receive
compensation or other benefits for any period after termination for Just Cause.
Termination for "Just Cause" shall include termination because of the Employee's
personal dishonesty, incompetence, willful misconduct, breach of fiduciary duty
involving personal profit, intentional failure to perform stated duties, willful
violation of any law, rule or regulation (other than traffic violations or
similar offenses) or final cease-and-desist order, or material breach of any
provision of the Agreement.
(c) Except as provided pursuant to Section 12 herein, in the event
Employee's employment under this Agreement is terminated by the Board of
Directors without Just Cause, the Bank shall be obligated to continue to pay the
Employee the salary provided pursuant to Section 2 herein, up to the date of
termination of the term (including any renewal term) of this Agreement and the
cost of Employee obtaining all health, life, disability, and other benefits
which the Employee would be eligible to participate in through such date based
upon the benefit levels substantially equal to those being provided Employee at
the date of termination of employment.
(d) If the Employee is removed and/or permanently prohibited from
participating in the conduct of the Bank's affairs by an order issued under
Sections 8(e)(4) or 8(g)(1) of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act ("FDIA") (12
U.S.C. 1818(e)(4) and (g)(1)), all obligations of the Bank under this Agreement
shall terminate, as of the effective date of the order, but the vested rights of
the parties shall not be affected.
(e) If the Bank is in default (as defined in Section 3(x)(1) of FDIA)
all obligations under this Agreement shall terminate as of the date of default,
but this paragraph shall not affect any vested rights of the contracting
parties.
(f) All obligations under this Agreement shall be terminated, except to
the extent determined that continuation of this Agreement is necessary for the
continued operation of the Bank: (i) by the Director of the Office of Thrift
Supervision ("Director of OTS"), or his or her designee, at the time that the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation ("FDIC") enters into an agreement to
provide assistance to or on behalf of the Bank under the authority contained in
Section 13(c) of FDIA; or (ii) by the Director of the OTS, or his or her
designee, at the time that the Director of the OTS, or his or her designee
approves a supervisory merger to resolve problems related to operation of the
Bank or when the Bank is determined by the Director of the OTS to be in an
unsafe or unsound condition. Any rights of the parties that have already vested,
however, shall not be affected by such action.
(g) The voluntary termination by the Employee during the term of this
Agreement with the delivery of no less than 60 days written notice to the Board
of Directors, other than pursuant to Section 12(b), in which case the Employee
shall be entitled to receive only the compensation, vested rights, and all
employee benefits up to the date of such termination.
(h) Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, any payments made
to the Employee pursuant to the Agreement, or otherwise, shall be subject to and
conditioned upon compliance with 12 USC ss.1828(k) and any regulations
promulgated thereunder.
10. Suspension of Employment . If the Employee is suspended and/or
temporarily prohibited from participating in the conduct of the Bank's affairs
by a notice served under Section 8(e)(3) or
(g)(1) of the FDIA (12 U.S.C. 1818(e)(3) and (g)(1)), the Bank's obligations
under the Agreement shall be suspended as of the date of service, unless stayed
by appropriate proceedings. If the charges in the notice are dismissed, the Bank
shall, (i) pay the Employee all or part of the compensation withheld while its
contract obligations were suspended and (ii) reinstate any of its obligations
which were suspended.
11. Disability. If the Employee shall become disabled or incapacitated
to the extent that he is unable to perform his duties hereunder, by reason of
medically determinable physical or mental impairment, as determined by a doctor
engaged by the Board of Directors, Employee shall nevertheless continue to
receive the compensation and benefits which may be payable to Employee under the
provisions of disability insurance coverage in effect for Bank employees. Upon
returning to active full-time employment, the Employee's full compensation as
set forth in this Agreement shall be reinstated as of the date of commencement
of such activities. In the event that the Employee returns to active employment
on other than a full-time basis, then his compensation (as set forth in
Paragraph 2 of this Agreement) shall be reduced in proportion to the time spent
in said employment, or as shall otherwise be agreed to by the parties.
12. Change in Control.
(a) Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, in the event
of the involuntary termination of Employee's employment under this Agreement, in
connection with or within 18 months after, any change in control of the Bank or
Parent, Employee shall be paid an amount equal to the product of 1.50 times the
Employee's "base amount" as defined in Section 280G(b)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") and regulations promulgated
thereunder. Said sum shall be paid, at the option of Employee, either (i) in
periodic payments over the next 36 months or the remaining term of this
Agreement, whichever is less, as if Employee's employment had not been
terminated, or (ii) in one (1) lump sum within thirty (30) days of such
termination, and such payments shall be in lieu of any other future payments
which the Employee would be otherwise entitled to receive under Section 9 of
this Agreement. Notwithstanding the forgoing, all sums payable hereunder shall
be reduced in such manner and to such extent so that no such payments made
hereunder when aggregated with all other payments to be made to the Employee by
the Bank or the Parent shall be deemed an "excess parachute payment" in
accordance with Section 280G of the Code and be subject to the excise tax
provided at Section 4999(a) of the Code. The term "control" shall refer to the
ownership, holding or power to vote more than 25% of the Parent's or Bank's
voting stock, the control of the election of a majority of the Parent's or
Bank's directors, or the exercise of a controlling influence over the management
or policies of the Parent or Bank by any person or by persons acting as a group
within the meaning of Section 13(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The
term "person" means an individual other than the Employee, or
a corporation, partnership, trust, association, joint venture, pool, syndicate,
sole proprietorship, unincorporated organization or any other form of entity not
specifically listed herein.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement to the
contrary, Employee may voluntary terminate his employment under this Agreement
within twelve (12) months following a change in control of the Bank or Parent,
and Employee shall thereupon be entitled to receive the payment described in
Section 12(a) of this Agreement, upon the occurrence, or within one year
thereafter, of any of the following events, which have not been consented to in
advance by the Employee in writing: (i) if Employee would be required to move
his personal residence or perform his principal executive functions more than
thirty-five (35) miles from the Employee's primary office as of the signing of
this Agreement; (ii) if in the organizational structure of the Bank or Parent,
Employee would be required to report to a person or persons other than the
President and Board of the Bank or Parent; (iii) if the Bank or Parent should
fail to maintain existing employee benefits plans, including material fringe
benefit, stock option and retirement plans; (iv) if Employee would be assigned
duties and responsibilities other than those normally associated with his
position as referenced at Section 1, herein; or (v) if Employee's
responsibilities or authority have in any way been materially diminished or
reduced.
(c) Arbitration. Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to
this Agreement, or the breach thereof, shall be settled by arbitration in
accordance with the rules then in effect of the district office of the American
Arbitration Association ("AAA") nearest to the home office of the Bank, and
judgment upon the award rendered may be entered in any court having jurisdiction
thereof, except to the extend that the parties may otherwise reach a mutual
settlement of such issue. The Bank shall incur the cost of all fees and expenses
associated with filing a request for arbitration with the AAA, whether such
filing is made on behalf of the Bank or the Employee, and the costs and
administrative fees associated with employing the arbitrator and related
administrative expenses assessed by the AAA.
13. Successors and Assigns.
(a) This Agreement shall inure to the benefit of and be binding upon
any corporate or other successor of the Bank or Parent which shall acquire,
directly or indirectly, by merger, consolidation, purchase or otherwise, all or
substantially all of the assets or stock of the Bank or Parent.
(b) Since the Bank is contracting for the unique and personal skills of
the Employee, the Employee shall be precluded from assigning or delegating his
rights or duties hereunder without first obtaining the written consent of the
Bank.
14. Amendments. No amendments or additions to this Agreement shall
be binding upon the parties hereto unless made in
writing and signed by both parties, except as herein otherwise specifically
provided.
15. Applicable Law. This agreement shall be governed by all respects
whether as to validity, construction, capacity, performance or otherwise, by the
laws of the State of Kansas, except to the extent that Federal law shall be
deemed to apply.
16. Severability. The provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed
severable and the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not
affect the validity or enforceability of the other provisions hereof.
17. Entire Agreement. This Agreement together with any understanding or
modifications thereof as agreed to in writing by the parties, shall constitute
the entire agreement between the parties hereto.