EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT, JOHN H. CURTIS



EXHIBIT 10.22

 EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT 

      THIS EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT (the “Agreement”), made this 21st
day of March, 2001, is entered into by Network Engines, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at 25 Dan Road, Canton, Massachusetts 02021-2817 (the “Company”), and John Curtis, an individual residing at 9
Parmenter Road, Framingham, Ma. 01701 (the “Employee”). 

      The Company desires to employ the Employee, and the Employee desires to be employed by the Company on the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement. In consideration of the mutual covenants and promises
contained in this Agreement, and other good and valuable consideration, the receipt and sufficiency of which are hereby acknowledged by the parties to this Agreement, the parties agree as follows: 

      1. Term of Employment. The Company hereby agrees to employ the Employee, and the Employee hereby accepts employment with the Company, on an at-will basis, upon the terms set forth in this Agreement,
commencing on March 21, 2001 (the “Commencement Date”). 

      2. Title; Capacity. The Employee shall serve as President (“President”) and Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) or in such other position as the Company or its Board of Directors (the
“Board”) may determine from time to time. The Employee shall be based at the Company’s headquarters in Canton, Massachusetts. The Employee shall be subject to the supervision of, and shall have such authority as is delegated to the
Employee by, the Board or such officer of the Company as may be designated by the Board. Promptly after the Commencement Date, the Employee shall also be elected as a member of the Board. 

      The Employee hereby accepts such employment and agrees to undertake the duties and responsibilities inherent in such position and such other duties and responsibilities as the Board or its designee shall from time
to time assign to the Employee. The Employee understands that the Board may institute a search for another CEO within the six-month period beginning on the Commencement Date and agrees to accept a position other than CEO and President if requested
by the Board, with no resulting modifications to the terms and conditions hereof other than his title, duties and responsibilities. The Employee agrees to devote his entire business time, attention and energies to the business and interests of the
Company during the period of the Employee’s employment with the Company. The Employee agrees to abide by the rules, regulations, instructions, personnel practices and policies of the Company and any changes therein which may be adopted from
time to time by the Company. 

      3.  Compensation and Benefits. 

           3.1 Salary. The Company shall pay the Employee, in periodic installments in accordance with the Company’s customary payroll practices, an annual base salary of $200,000.
Such salary shall be subject to adjustment annually thereafter as determined by the Board. 

           3.2 Annual Target Bonus. The Employee will be eligible for a bonus of up to $100,000 per annum, based upon performance targets to be mutually agreed between the Board and the
Employee within sixty (60) days of the Commencement Date. 


           3.3 Fringe Benefits. The Employee shall be entitled to participate in all bonus and benefit programs that the Company establishes and makes available to its employees, if any, to
the extent that Employee’s position, tenure, salary, age, health and other qualifications make him eligible to participate. The Employee shall be entitled to paid vacation in accordance with the Company’s standard policy. 

           3.4 Reimbursement of Expenses. The Company shall reimburse the Employee for all reasonable documented travel, entertainment and other expenses incurred or paid by the Employee in
connection with, or related to, the performance of his duties, responsibilities or services under this Agreement, in accordance with policies and procedures, and subject to limitations, adopted by the Company from time to time. 

           3.5 Withholding. All salary, bonus and other compensation payable to the Employee shall be subject to applicable withholding taxes. 

           3.6 Stock Options. If at any time the Board determines not to institute a search for a CEO other than the Employee, or the Company institutes such a search and the Board
determines to retain the Employee as the CEO following such search, then the Company will grant to the Employee an option to purchase 525,225 shares (as adjusted for any stock splits, stock dividends or similar recapitalizations) of the
Company’s common stock at an exercise price per share equal to the lower of (i) $1.1875 (as adjusted for any stock splits, stock dividends or similar recapitalizations) and (ii) the last reported sales price of the Company’s common stock
on the Nasdaq National Market on the date of such grant, in either case, subject to vesting as determined by the Board. 

      4. Termination of Employment. The employment of the Employee by the Company pursuant to this Agreement shall terminate upon the occurrence of any of the following: 

           4.1 At the election of the Company, for Cause (as defined below), immediately upon written notice by the Company to the Employee, which notice shall identify the Cause upon which the
termination is based. For the purposes of this Section 4.1, “Cause” shall mean (a) a good faith finding by the Company that (i) the Employee has substantially failed to perform his assigned duties for the Company, or (ii) the Employee has
engaged in dishonesty, gross negligence or misconduct involving the Company, or (b) the conviction of the Employee of, or the entry of a pleading of guilty or nolo contendere by the Employee to, any crime involving moral turpitude or any felony; 

           4.2 At the election of the Employee, for Good Reason (as defined below), immediately upon written notice by the Employee to the Company, which notice shall identify the Good Reason upon
which the termination is based. For the purposes of this Section 4.2, “Good Reason” for termination shall mean (i) a material adverse change in the Employee’s compensation (but not title, duties, responsibilities or authority) without
the prior consent of the Employee or (ii) a material breach by the Company of the terms of this Agreement, which breach is not remedied by the Company within 10 days following written notice from the Employee to the Company notifying it of such
breach; 


           4.3 Upon the death or disability of the Employee. As used in this Agreement, the term “disability” shall mean the inability of the Employee, due to a physical or mental
disability, for a period of 90 days, whether or not consecutive, during any 360-day period to perform the services contemplated under this Agreement, with or without reasonable accommodation as that term is defined under state or federal law. A
determination of disability shall be made by a physician satisfactory to both the Employee and the Company, provided that if the Employee and the Company do not agree on a physician, the Employee and the Company shall each select a
physician and these two together shall select a third physician, whose determination as to disability shall be binding on all parties; or 

           4.4 At the election of either party, at any time, upon not less than 30 days’ prior written notice of termination; provided, however, that the Company may, at its option, elect to
terminate the Employee upon less than 30 days’ notice, in which case the Company shall continue to pay the Employee, in addition to any payments due to the Employee under Section 5.1(b), his salary as in effect on the date of termination until
the date which is 30 days after the date notice of termination is given to the Employee. 

      5.  Effect of Termination. 

           5.1 Payments Upon Termination. 

           (a) In the event the Employee’s employment is terminated pursuant to Section 4.1 or Section 4.3 or by the Employee pursuant to Section 4.4, the Company shall pay to the Employee
the compensation and benefits otherwise payable to him under Section 3 through the last day of his actual employment by the Company. 

           (b) In the event the Employee’s employment is terminated by the Employee pursuant to Section 4.2 or by the Company pursuant to Section 4.4, the Company shall (i) continue to pay to
the Employee his salary as in effect on the date of termination and continue to provide to the Employee the other benefits owed to him under Section 3.3 (to the extent such benefits can be provided to non-employees) until the date 180 days after
such termination (or in the case of a termination by the Company pursuant to Section 4.4 upon less than 30 days’ notice, 180 days after the expiration of the period during which he is entitled to receive salary payments pursuant to Section
4.4), and (ii) pay to the Employee an amount equal to 25% of the annual bonus he would have been entitled to receive for the then current year, as determined by the Board in accordance with the performance targets determined pursuant to Section 3.2
(payable in annualized monthly installments). The payment to the Employee of the amounts payable under this Section 5.1(b) shall constitute the sole remedy of the Employee in the event of a termination of the Employee’s employment in the
circumstances set forth in this Section 5.1(b). 

           5.2 Survival. The provisions of Sections 5.1(b), 6 and 7 shall survive the termination of this Agreement. 

      6.  Non-Competition and Non-Solicitation. 

           6.1 Restricted Activities. While the Employee is employed by the Company and for a period of two years after the termination or cessation of such employment for any reason, the
Employee will not directly or indirectly: 


           (a) Engage in any business or enterprise (whether as owner, partner, officer, director, employee, consultant, investor, lender or otherwise, except as the holder of not more than 1% of
the outstanding stock of a publicly-held company) that is competitive with the Company’s business, including but not limited to any business or enterprise that develops, manufactures, markets, or sells any product or service that competes with
any product or service developed, manufactured, marketed, sold or provided, or planned to be developed, manufactured, marketed, sold or provided, by the Company or any of its subsidiaries while the Employee was employed by the Company; or 

           (b) Either alone or in association with others (i) solicit, or permit any organization directly or indirectly controlled by the Employee to solicit, any employee of the Company to leave
the employ of the Company, or (ii) solicit for employment, hire or engage as an independent contractor, or permit any organization directly or indirectly controlled by the Employee to solicit for employment, hire or engage as an independent
contractor, any person who was employed by the Company at the time of the termination or cessation of the Employee’s employment with the Company; provided, that this clause (ii) shall not apply to any individual whose employment with the
Company has been terminated for a period of six months or longer. 

           6.2 Extension. If the Employee violates the provisions of Section 6.1, the Employee shall continue to be bound by the restrictions set forth in Section 6.1 until a period of two
years has expired without any violation of such provisions. 

           6.3 Interpretation. If any restriction set forth in Section 6.1 is found by any court of competent jurisdiction to be unenforceable because it extends for too long a period of
time or over too great a range of activities or in too broad a geographic area, it shall be interpreted to extend only over the maximum period of time, range of activities or geographic area as to which it may be enforceable. 

           6.4 Equitable Remedies. The restrictions contained in this Section 6 are necessary for the protection of the business and goodwill of the Company and are considered by the
Employee to be reasonable for such purpose. The Employee agrees that any breach of this Section 6 is likely to cause the Company substantial and irrevocable damage which is difficult to measure. Therefore, in the event of any such breach or
threatened breach, the Employee agrees that the Company, in addition to such other remedies which may be available, shall have the right to obtain an injunction from a court restraining such a breach or threatened breach and the right to specific
performance of the provisions of this Section 6 and the Employee hereby waives the adequacy of a remedy at law as a defense to such relief. 

      7.  Proprietary Information and Developments. 

           7.1 Proprietary Information. 

           (a) The Employee agrees that all information, whether or not in writing, of a private, secret or confidential nature concerning the Company’s business, business relationships or
financial affairs (collectively, “Proprietary Information”) is and shall be the exclusive property of the Company. By way of illustration, but not limitation, Proprietary Information may include 


inventions, products, processes, methods, techniques, formulas, compositions, compounds, projects, developments, plans, research data, clinical data, financial data, personnel data, computer programs, customer and supplier lists, and contacts at
or knowledge of customers or prospective customers of the Company. The Employee will not disclose any Proprietary Information to any person or entity other than employees of the Company or use the same for any purposes (other than in the performance
of his duties as an employee of the Company) without written approval by an officer of the Company, either during or after his employment with the Company, unless and until such Proprietary Information has become public knowledge without fault by
the Employee. 

           (b)   The Employee agrees that all files, letters, memoranda, reports, records, data, sketches, drawings, laboratory notebooks, program listings, or other written,
photographic, or other tangible material containing Proprietary Information, whether created by the Employee or others, which shall come into his custody or possession, shall be and are the exclusive property of the Company to be used by the
Employee only in the performance of his duties for the Company. All such materials or copies thereof and all tangible property of the Company in the custody or possession of the Employee shall be delivered to the Company, upon the earlier of (i) a
request by the Company or (ii) termination of his employment. After such delivery, the Employee shall not retain any such materials or copies thereof or any such tangible property. 

           (c)   The Employee agrees that his obligation not to disclose or to use information and materials of the types set forth in paragraphs (a) and (b) above, and his obligation to
return materials and tangible property, set forth in paragraph (b) above, also extends to such types of information, materials and tangible property of customers of the Company or suppliers to the Company or other third parties who may have
disclosed or entrusted the same to the Company or to the Employee. 

           7.2   Developments. 

           (a)   The Employee will make full and prompt disclosure to the Company of all inventions, improvements, discoveries, methods, developments, software, and works of authorship,
whether patentable or not, which are created, made, conceived or reduced to practice by him or under his direction or jointly with others during his employment by the Company, whether or not during normal working hours or on the premises of the
Company (all of which are collectively referred to in this Agreement as “Developments”). 

           (b)   The Employee agrees to assign and does hereby assign to the Company (or any person or entity designated by the Company) all his right, title and interest in and to all
Developments and all related patents, patent applications, copyrights and copyright applications. However, this paragraph (b) shall not apply to Developments which do not relate to the present or planned business or research and development of the
Company and which are made and conceived by the Employee not during normal working hours, not on the Company’s premises and not using the Company’s tools, devices, equipment or Proprietary Information. The Employee understands that, to the
extent this Agreement shall be construed in accordance with the laws of any state which precludes a requirement in an employee agreement to assign certain classes of inventions made by an employee, this paragraph (b) shall be interpreted not to
apply to 


any invention which a court rules and/or the Company agrees falls within such classes. The Employee also hereby waives all claims to moral rights in any Developments.

             (c)   The Employee agrees to cooperate fully with the Company, both during and after his employment with the Company, with respect to the procurement,
maintenance and enforcement of copyrights, patents and other intellectual property rights (both in the United States and foreign countries) relating to Developments. The Employee shall sign all papers, including, without limitation, copyright
applications, patent applications, declarations, oaths, formal assignments, assignments of priority rights, and powers of attorney, which the Company may deem necessary or desirable in order to protect its rights and interests in any Development.
The Employee further agrees that if the Company is unable, after reasonable effort, to secure the signature of the Employee on any such papers, any executive officer of the Company shall be entitled to execute any such papers as the agent and the
attorney-in-fact of the Employee, and the Employee hereby irrevocably designates and appoints each executive officer of the Company as his agent and attorney-in-fact to execute any such papers on his behalf, and to take any and all actions as the
Company may deem necessary or desirable in order to protect its rights and interests in any Development, under the conditions described in this sentence.

          7.3      United States Government Obligations. The Employee acknowledges that the Company from time to time may have agreements with other parties or with
the United States Government, or agencies thereof, which impose obligations or restrictions on the Company regarding inventions made during the course of work under such agreements or regarding the confidential nature of such work. The Employee
agrees to be bound by all such obligations and restrictions which are made known to the Employee and to take all appropriate action necessary to discharge the obligations of the Company under such agreements.

          7.4      Equitable Remedies. The restrictions contained in this Section 7 are necessary for the protection of the business and goodwill of the Company and
are considered by the Employee to be reasonable for such purpose. The Employee agrees that any breach of this Section 7 is likely to cause the Company substantial and irrevocable damage which is difficult to measure. Therefore, in the event of any
such breach or threatened breach, the Employee agrees that the Company, in addition to such other remedies which may be available, shall have the right to obtain an injunction from a court restraining such a breach or threatened breach and the right
to specific performance of the provisions of this Section 7 and the Employee hereby waives the adequacy of a remedy at law as a defense to such relief.

   8.    Other Agreements. The Employee represents that his performance of all the terms of this Agreement and the performance of his duties as an employee of the Company do not and will not breach any
agreement with any prior employer or other party to which the Employee is a party (including without limitation any nondisclosure or non-competition agreement). Any agreement to which the Employee is a party relating to nondisclosure,
non-competition or non-solicitation of employees or customers is listed on Schedule 8 attached hereto.


      9.  Miscellaneous. 

           9.1 Notices. Any notices delivered under this Agreement shall be deemed duly delivered four business days after it is sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt
requested, postage prepaid, or one business day after it is sent for next-business day delivery via a reputable nationwide overnight courier service, in each case to the address of the recipient set forth in the introductory paragraph hereto. Either
party may change the address to which notices are to be delivered by giving notice of such change to the other party in the manner set forth in this Section 9.1. 

           9.2 Pronouns. Whenever the context may require, any pronouns used in this Agreement shall include the corresponding masculine, feminine or neuter forms, and the singular forms of
nouns and pronouns shall include the plural, and vice versa. 

           9.3 Entire Agreement. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the parties and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings, whether written or oral,
relating to the subject matter of this Agreement. 

           9.4 Amendment. This Agreement may be amended or modified only by a written instrument executed by both the Company and the Employee. 

           9.5 Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (without reference to the conflicts of laws
provisions thereof). Any action, suit or other legal proceeding arising under or relating to any provision of this Agreement shall be commenced only in a court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (or, if appropriate, a federal court located within
Massachusetts), and the Company and the Employee each consents to the jurisdiction of such a court. The Company and the Employee each hereby irrevocably waive any right to a trial by jury in any action, suit or other legal proceeding arising under
or relating to any provision of this Agreement. 

           9.6 Successors and Assigns. This Agreement shall be binding upon and inure to the benefit of both parties and their respective successors and assigns, including any corporation
with which, or into which, the Company may be merged or which may succeed to the Company’s assets or business, provided, however, that the obligations of the Employee are personal and shall not be assigned by him. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
if the Company is merged with or into a third party which is engaged in multiple lines of business, or if a third party engaged in multiple lines of business succeeds to the Company’s assets or business, then for purposes of Section 6.1(a), the
term “Company” shall mean and refer to the business of the Company as it existed immediately prior to such event and as it subsequently develops and not to the third party’s other businesses. 

           9.7 Waivers. No delay or omission by the Company in exercising any right under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of that or any other right. A waiver or consent given by
the Company on any one occasion shall be effective only in that instance and shall not be construed as a bar or waiver of any right on any other occasion. 


           9.8 Captions. The captions of the sections of this Agreement are for convenience of reference only and in no way define, limit or affect the scope or substance of any section of
this Agreement. 

           9.9 Severability. In case any provision of this Agreement shall be invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining
provisions shall in no way be affected or impaired thereby. 

      THE EMPLOYEE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT HE HAS CAREFULLY READ THIS AGREEMENT AND UNDERSTANDS AND AGREES TO ALL OF THE PROVISIONS IN THIS AGREEMENT. 

      IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Agreement as of the day and year set forth above. 

  

	 	
NETWORK ENGINES, INC. 


 By: __/s/ Douglas G. Bryant __________





 Title: _Chief Financial Officer, Vice President of


           Administration, Treasurer and Secretary__





 EMPLOYEE 


 _/s/ John H. Curtis ______


John H. Curtis