Document:

Exhibit 10.62

 

AMENDMENT TO CONFIDENTIALITY, NON-SOLICITATION
 AND NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT

 

THIS AMENDMENT TO CONFIDENTIALITY, NON-SOLICITATION AND NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT (“Non-Compete Amendment”) is made effective as of January 1, 2014 (the “Effective Date”), by and between EQT Corporation (formerly known as Equitable Resources, Inc., and together with its subsidiary companies, the “Company”) and Diana M Charletta (“Employee”) and amends the Confidentiality, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement, dated as of September 8, 2008, by and between the Company and Employee (“Agreement”).

 

W I T N E S S E T H:

 

WHEREAS, the Company and Employee entered into the Agreement on or about September 8, 2008;

 

WHEREAS, the Agreement authorized the parties to amend the Agreement by a written instrument signed by both parties;

 

WHEREAS, the Company and Employee express their intent to modify the Agreement in accordance with the terms of this Non-Compete Amendment;

 

WHEREAS, Employee understands that his/her receipt of performance awards in respect of 2014 under the EQT Corporation 2009 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “2009 LTIP”), including without limitation the 2014 Executive Performance Incentive Program (“2014 EPIP”) will not be effective unless he/she accepts the terms and conditions of this Non-Compete Amendment no later than 45 days after the Effective Date;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, the Company and Employee, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

 

1.                                      On the Effective Date, the Company granted performance awards to Employee under, and subject to the terms and conditions of, the 2009 LTIP, the 2014 EPIP and certain other documents.  Such grant is effective only if Employee accepts the terms and conditions of this Non-Compete Amendment no later than 45 days after the Effective Date.

 

2.                                      The parties agree to amend the Agreement by deleting paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Agreement and substituting the following paragraphs:

 

1.                                      Restrictions on Competition and Solicitation.  While the Employee is employed by the Company and for a period of twelve (12) months after the date of Employee’s termination of employment with the Company for any reason Employee will not, directly or indirectly, expressly or tacitly, for himself/herself or on behalf of any entity conducting business anywhere in the Restricted Territory (as defined below): (i) act in any capacity for any business in which his/her duties at or for such business include oversight of or actual involvement in providing services which are

 

 

competitive with the services or products being provided or which are being produced or developed by the Company, or were under investigation by the Company within the last two (2) years prior to the end of Employee’s employment with the Company, (ii) recruit investors on behalf of an entity which engages in activities which are competitive with the services or products being provided or which are being produced or developed by the Company, or were under investigation by the Company within the last two (2) years prior to the end of Employee’s employment with the Company, or (iii) become employed by such an entity in any capacity which would require Employee to carry out, in whole or in part, the duties Employee has performed for the Company which are competitive with the services or products being provided or which are being produced or developed by the Company, or were under active investigation by the Company within the last two (2) years prior to the end of Employee’s employment with the Company.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Employee may purchase or otherwise acquire up to (but not more than) 1% of any class of securities of any enterprise (but without otherwise participating in the activities of such enterprise) if such securities are listed on any national or regional securities exchange or have been registered under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.  This covenant shall apply to any services, products or businesses under investigation by the Company within the last two (2) years prior to the end of Employee’s employment with the Company only to the extent that Employee acquired or was privy to confidential information regarding such services, products or businesses.  Employee acknowledges that this restriction will prevent Employee from acting in any of the foregoing capacities for any competing entity operating or conducting business within the Restricted Territory and that this scope is reasonable in light of the business of the Company.

 

Restricted Territory shall mean (i) the entire geographic location of any natural gas and oil play in which the Company owns, operates or has contractual rights to purchase natural gas-related assets (other than commodity trading rights and pipeline capacity contracts on non-affiliated or third-party pipelines), including but not limited to, storage facilities, interstate pipelines, intrastate pipelines, intrastate distribution facilities, liquefied natural gas facilities, propane-air facilities or other peaking facilities, and/or processing or fractionation facilities; or (ii) the entire geographic location of any natural gas and oil play in which the Company owns proved, developed and/or undeveloped natural gas and/or oil reserves and/or conducts natural gas or oil exploration and production activities of any kind; or (iii) the entire geographic location of any natural gas and oil play in which the Company has decided to make or has made an offer to purchase or lease assets for the purpose of conducting any of the business activities described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) above within the six (6) month period immediately preceding the end of the Employee’s employment with the Company provided that Employee had actual

 

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knowledge of the offer or decision to make an offer prior to Employee’s separation from the Company.  For geographic locations of natural gas and oil plays, refer to the maps produced by the United States Energy Information Administration located at www.eia.gov/maps.

 

Employee agrees that for a period of twelve (12) months following the termination of Employee’s employment with the Company for any reason, including without limitation termination for cause or without cause, Employee shall not, directly or indirectly, solicit the business of, or do business with: (i) any customer that Employee approached, solicited or accepted business from on behalf of the Company, and/or was provided confidential or proprietary information about while employed by the Company within the one (1) year period preceding Employee’s separation from the Company; and (ii) any prospective customer of the Company who was identified to or by the Employee and/or who Employee was provided confidential or proprietary information about while employed by the Company within the one (1) year period preceding Employee’s separation from the Company, for purposes of marketing, selling and/or attempting to market or sell products and services which are the same as or similar to any product or service the Company offers within the last two (2) years prior to the end of Employee’s employment with the Company, and/or, which are the same as or similar to any product or service the Company has in process over the last two (2) years prior to the end of Employee’s employment with the Company to be offered in the future.

 

While Employee is employed by the Company and for a period of twelve (12) months after the date of Employee’s termination of employment with the Company for any reason, Employee shall not (directly or indirectly) on his/her own behalf or on behalf of any other person or entity solicit or induce, or cause any other person or entity to solicit or induce, or attempt to solicit or induce, any employee, consultant, vendor or independent contractor to leave the employ of or engagement by the Company or its successors, assigns or affiliates, or to violate the terms of their contracts with the Company.

 

2.                                      Confidentiality of Information and Nondisclosure.  Employee acknowledges and agrees that his/her employment by the Company necessarily involves his/her knowledge of and access to confidential and proprietary information pertaining to the business of the Company.  Accordingly, Employee agrees that at all times during the term of this Agreement and for as long as the information remains confidential after the termination of Employee’s employment, he/she will not, directly or indirectly, without the express written authority of the Company, unless directed by applicable legal authority having jurisdiction over Employee, disclose to or use, or knowingly permit to be so disclosed or used, for the benefit of himself/herself, any person, corporation or other entity other than the Company, (i) any information concerning any financial matters,

 

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employees of the Company, customer relationships, competitive status, supplier matters, internal organizational matters, current or future plans, or other business affairs of or relating to the Company, (ii) any management, operational, trade, technical or other secrets or any other proprietary information or other data of the Company, or (iii) any other information related to the Company which has not been published and is not generally known outside of the Company.  Employee acknowledges that all of the foregoing, constitutes confidential and proprietary information, which is the exclusive property of the Company.

 

3.                                      The parties agree to insert a new paragraph 12 to read as follows:

 

12.                               Notification of Subsequent Employment.                 Employee shall upon termination of his/her employment with the Company, as soon as practicable and for the length of the non-competition period described in Section 1 above, notify the Company: (i) of the name, address and nature of the business of his/her new employer; (ii) if self-employed, of the name, address and nature of his/her new business; (iii) that he/she has not yet secured new employment; and (iv) each time his/her employment status changes.  In addition, Employee shall notify any prospective employer that this Agreement exists and shall provide a copy of this Agreement to the prospective employer prior to beginning employment with that prospective employer.  Any notice provided under this Section (or otherwise under this Agreement) shall be in writing directed to the General Counsel, EQT Corporation, 625 Liberty Avenue, Suite 1700, Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3111.

 

Paragraph 12, which existed in the Agreement prior to the Non-Compete Amendment, remains in full force and effect and becomes paragraph 13 in the amended Agreement.

 

4.                                      This Non-Compete Amendment is hereby incorporated into the Agreement.  Except as expressly amended by this Non-Compete Amendment, all provisions of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

 

5.                                      This Non-Compete Amendment shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

 

6.                                      The parties acknowledge that this Non-Compete Amendment is a written instrument and that by their signatures below they are agreeing to the terms and conditions contained in this Non-Compete Amendment.

 

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IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have duly executed and delivered this Non-Compete Amendment as of the date first above written.

 

	
EQT Corporation
    	
 
    	
Employee:
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
By: 
    	
/s/ Charlene Petrelli
    	
 
    	
/s/ Diana M Charletta
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    	
Diana M Charletta
    
	
Name: 
    	
Charlene Petrelli
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
Title: 
    	
Vice President & Chief Human Resources   Officer
    	
 
    	
 
    

 

5Exhibit 10.63

 

SECOND AMENDMENT TO CONFIDENTIALITY, NON-SOLICITATION
 AND NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT

 

THIS SECOND AMENDMENT TO CONFIDENTIALITY, NON-SOLICITATION AND NON-COMPETITION AGREEMENT (“Non-Compete Amendment”) is made effective as of January 1, 2015 (the “Effective Date”), by and between EQT Corporation (together with its subsidiary companies, the “Company”) and Diana M. Charletta (“Employee”) and amends the Confidentiality, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement, dated as of September 8, 2008, by and between the Company and Employee which was amended by the Amendment to Confidentiality, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement dated January 1, 2014.

 

W I T N E S S E T H:

 

WHEREAS, the Company and Employee entered into the Confidentiality, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement on or about September 8, 2008 and the Company and Employee agreed to amend the Confidentiality, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement, by entering into the Amendment to Confidentiality, Non-Solicitation and Non-Competition Agreement dated January 1, 2014 (collectively, the “Agreement”);

 

WHEREAS, the Agreement authorized the parties to amend the Agreement by a written instrument signed by both parties;

 

WHEREAS, the Company and Employee express their intent to modify the Agreement in accordance with the terms of this Non-Compete Amendment and to incorporate this Non-Compete Amendment into the Agreement;

 

WHEREAS, Employee understands that his/her receipt of performance awards in respect of 2015 under the EQT Corporation 2014 Long Term Incentive Plan (the “2014 LTIP”), including without limitation the 2015 Executive Performance Incentive Program (“2015 EPIP”) will not be effective unless he/she accepts the terms and conditions of this Non-Compete Amendment no later than 45 days after the Effective Date;

 

NOW, THEREFORE, the Company and Employee, intending to be legally bound, hereby agree as follows:

 

1.                                      On the Effective Date, the Company granted performance awards to Employee under, and subject to the terms and conditions of, the 2014 LTIP, the 2015 EPIP and certain other documents.  Such grant is effective only if Employee accepts the terms and conditions of this Non-Compete Amendment no later than 45 days after the Effective Date.

 

2.                                      The parties agree to amend the Agreement by deleting Section 3 of the Agreement and substituting the following:

 

3.                                      Severance Benefit.  If the Employee’s employment is terminated by the Company for any reason other than Cause (as defined below) or if the

 

 

Employee terminates his/her employment for Good Reason (as defined below), the Company shall provide Employee with the following:

 

(a) Continuation of Employee’s base salary in effect at the time of such termination, or immediately prior to the event that serves as the basis for termination for Good Reason, for a period of twelve (12) months from the date thereof.  Such salary continuation payments will be in accordance with the Company’s payroll practices;

 

(b) A lump sum payment payable within 60 days following Employee’s termination date equal to the product of (i) twelve (12) and (ii) 100% of the then-current Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 monthly rate for family coverage; and

 

(c) A lump sum payment payable within 60 days following Employee’s termination date equal to $15,000.00.

 

The payments provided under this Section 3 shall be subject to applicable tax and payroll withholdings, and shall be in addition to any payments and/or benefits to which the Employee would otherwise be entitled under the EQT Corporation Severance Pay Plan (as amended from time to time).  The Company’s obligation to provide the payments and benefits under this Section 3 shall be contingent upon the following:

 

(a)                                 Employee’s execution of a release of claims in a form acceptable to the Company; and

 

(b)                                 Employee’s compliance with his/her obligations hereunder, including, but not limited to, Employee’s obligations set forth in Sections 1 and 2.

 

Solely for purposes of this Agreement, “Cause” as a reason for the Employee’s termination of employment shall mean: (i) the conviction of a felony, a crime of moral turpitude or fraud or having committed fraud, misappropriation or embezzlement in connection with the performance of his/her duties hereunder; (ii) willful and repeated failures to substantially perform his/her assigned duties; or (iii) a violation of any provision of this Agreement or express significant policies of the Company.

 

Solely for purposes of this Agreement, termination for “Good Reason” shall mean the Employee’s resignation within 90 days after: (i) being demoted; or (ii) being given notice of a reduction in his/her annual base salary (other than a reduction of not more than 10% applicable to all senior officers of the Company).

 

3.                                      The parties agree to insert a new Section 13 to read as follows:

 

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13.                               Internal Revenue Code Section 409A.

 

(a)                                 General.  This Agreement shall be interpreted and administered in a manner so that any amount or benefit payable hereunder shall be paid or provided in a manner that is either exempt from or compliant with the requirements of Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) and applicable Internal Revenue Service guidance and Treasury Regulations issued thereunder. Nevertheless, the tax treatment of the benefits provided under the Agreement is not warranted or guaranteed.  Neither the Company nor its directors, officers, employees or advisers shall be held liable for any taxes, interest, penalties or other monetary amounts owed by Employee as a result of the application of Section 409A of the Code.

 

(b)                                 Separation from Service.  For purposes of the Agreement, the term “termination,” when used in the context of a condition to, or the timing of, a payment hereunder, shall be interpreted to mean a “separation from service” as such term is used in Section 409A of the Code.

 

(c)                                  Six-Month Delay in Certain Circumstances.  Notwithstanding anything in this Agreement to the contrary, if any amount or benefit that would constitute non-exempt “deferred compensation” for purposes of Section 409A of the Code (“Non-Exempt Deferred Compensation”) would otherwise be payable or distributable under this Agreement by reason of Employee’s separation from service during a period in which Employee is a Specified Employee (as defined below), then, subject to any permissible acceleration of payment by the Company under Treas. Reg. Section 1.409A-3(j)(4)(ii) (domestic relations order), (j)(4)(iii) (conflicts of interest), or (j)(4)(vi) (payment of employment taxes):

 

(i) the amount of such Non-Exempt Deferred Compensation that would otherwise be payable during the six-month period immediately following Employee’s separation from service will be accumulated through and paid or provided on the first day of the seventh month following Employee’s separation from service (or, if Employee dies during such period, within thirty (30) days after Employee’s death) (in either case, the “Required Delay Period”); and

 

(ii) the normal payment or distribution schedule for any remaining payments or distributions will resume at the end of the Required Delay Period.

 

For purposes of this Agreement, the term “Specified Employee” has the meaning given such term in Code Section 409A and the final regulations thereunder.

 

(d)                                 Timing of Release of Claims.  Whenever in this Agreement a payment or benefit is conditioned on Employee’s execution of a release of claims, such release must be executed and all revocation periods shall have expired within sixty (60) days after the date of termination; failing which such payment or benefit shall be forfeited.  If such payment or benefit constitutes Non-Exempt Deferred Compensation, and if such 60-day period begins in one calendar year and ends in the next calendar year, the payment or benefit shall not be made or commence before the second such calendar year, even if the release becomes

 

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irrevocable in the first such calendar year.  In other words, Employee is not permitted to influence the calendar year of payment based on the timing of his/her signing of the release.

 

4.                                      Section 13, which existed in the Agreement prior to the Non-Compete Amendment, remains in full force and effect and becomes Section 14 in the amended Agreement.

 

5.                                      This Non-Compete Amendment is hereby incorporated into the Agreement.  Except as expressly amended by this Non-Compete Amendment, all provisions of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.

 

6.                                      This Non-Compete Amendment shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

 

7.                                      The parties acknowledge that this Non-Compete Amendment is a written instrument and that by their signatures below they are agreeing to the terms and conditions contained in this Non-Compete Amendment.

 

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have duly executed and delivered this Non-Compete Amendment as of the date first above written.

 

	
EQT Corporation
    	
 
    	
Employee:
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
By: 
    	
/s/ Charlene Petrelli
    	
 
    	
/s/ Diana M Charletta
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    	
Diana M Charletta
    
	
Name: 
    	
Charlene Petrelli
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    	
 
    
	
Title: 
    	
Vice President & Chief Human Resources   Officer
    	
 
    	
 
    

 

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