Document:

CLF-2012.12.31 EX 10.44

Exhibit 10.44

CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC

	
			
	 
	 
	Direct: (216) 694-940

	RANDY L. KUMMER
	 
	Fax: (216) 694-8381

	SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT-HUMAN RESOURCES
	

	rkummer@cleveland-cliffs.com

April 2, 2007

CONFIDENTIAL
Mr. William Brake
24881 Kennedy Ridge Road
North Olmsted, Ohio  44070
Dear Mr. Brake:

This letter confirms the verbal offer to you for the position of Executive Vice President, Cliffs Metallics and Chief Technical Officer with Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. In this role, you will report directly to Joe Carrabba, President and Chief Executive Officer.

The following are the details of the revised offer:
BASE SALARY

Your starting salary will be $325,000 per year, payable semi-monthly. Individual performance and the salaries of elected officers are periodically reviewed by the Compensation and Organization Committee of the Board of Directors based on the recommendations of the Chief Executive Officer.

MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE PLAN
Effective with your starting date, you will participate in the Management Performance Incentive Plan, which provides an annual target cash bonus of 60 percent of your base salary. The actual bonus awards can be 0 to 200 percent of target based upon Board Compensation Committee judgment of individual, unit and corporate performance as recommended by the CEO. Your 2007 award will be prorated from your date of hire.

LONG-TERM EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
You will participate in the Company’s Incentive Equity Plan and be eligible to receive annual Performance Share awards (including Retention Units) based on the Plan formula. Normally, the grant size will be determined based upon a market review and analysis of your current position.

For 2007 your performance share award will be 10,000 Performance Shares of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc stock. The grant date will coincide with your first day of employment. The 

Performance Shares vest into actual shares on a three-year moving cycle based on achieving corporate objectives of return on investment and stock price performance against a peer group. Fifteen percent of your award, or 1,500 shares, represent "retention units" and will vest after three years based on your continuing employment to that date. Your Performance Share award will be computed as though you had been an employee of the Company beginning on January 1, 2007 and shall not be prorated because of your being hired during 2007.

SEVERANCE PROTECTION

The Company will enter into a change-of-control severance agreement with you. This agreement will provide, among other things, compensation in the event your position is eliminated or substantially diminished following a corporate change-of-control.
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Subject to the eligibility rules of the various plans, you will be entitled to participate in the pension, 401(k), life insurance, medical and dental insurance coverage, disability, other employee benefit programs and arrangements, including any executive perquisites that are generally made available by the Company to employees in your position. Below is a brief summary of these benefits.

Vacation Benefits

You will be eligible for four (4) weeks of vacation during 2007 and during each calendar year thereafter.
Retiree Medical Coverage

Subsidized retiree medical coverage is not a part of the Company's retirement benefit program for employees hired or rehired after January 1, 1993.

Periodic Review of Benefit Plans
The Company periodically reviews all employee benefit plans and programs to ensure that employees are offered competitive and affordable benefits. The Company reserves the right to amend or terminate any such employee benefit plan, program or perquisite at any time and for any reason without the consent of any employee or participant.
TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT

This offer is contingent upon your successful completion of a Company pre-employment physical and drug/alcohol screen, which will be administered and evaluated consistent with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

By accepting this offer as Executive Vice President, Cliffs Metallics and Chief Technical Officer, you agree to act honestly, in good faith, in the Company's best interests, and to exercise the degree of skill and diligence that a person having your expertise and knowledge of the Company's affairs would reasonably be expected to exercise in comparable circumstances. Further, you agree to devote yourself exclusively and full-time to the Company's business and not to be employed or 

engaged in other businesses without the Company's prior written approval. You agree to observe and abide by all the Company's policies, rules and procedures, including the Company's Code of Business Conduct and Ethics policy. A copy of that policy is enclosed.

In accordance with corporate policy, this letter and your response are not meant to constitute a contract of employment for any specific period of time and you will remain, at all times, an employee at-will. Absolutely no one except the Board of Directors of the Company may change the at-will nature of our relationship, and then only in writing. Any reliance on any representations, oral or otherwise, contrary to "employment-at-will" is unreasonable.

I look forward to you joining the Cliffs' team and working with you. I believe that you will find the challenges to be significant, the rewards to be competitive, and the satisfaction to be substantial in working for a highly professional organization with a proud history in a vital industry. 

Please confirm in writing your acceptance of this offer and return the signed copy of the enclosed Employee Invention and Secrecy Agreement with your confirmation.

If you have any questions regarding the terms of the offer or the responsibility of the position, please do not hesitate to contact me.
                
	
	
	Very truly yours,

	/s/ R. L. Kummer

	

Randy L. Kummer

	Senior Vice President-Human Resources

Acceptance of Offer:

I have read and accept all of the terms of the offer of employment as set forth in the foregoing letter. I have not relied on any agreements or representations, expressed or implied, that are not set forth expressly in the foregoing letter.

    
	
			
	/s/ William S. Brake
	 
	April 4, 2007

	William S. Brake
	 
	Date

	 
	 
	 

Enclosure
cc:    Personnel FileCLF-2012.12.31 EX10.51

Exhibit 10.51 
CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE INCENTIVE PLAN
EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2007
1.  Purpose.  The Plan is intended to provide a competitive annual incentive compensation opportunity to selected senior executive officers based on achievement against key corporate objectives and thereby align actual pay results with the short-term business performance of the Company.
2.      Definitions.  For purposes of the Plan, the following terms have the meanings indicated:
(a)      “Award” means an award made by the Committee under the Plan.
(b)      “Board” means the Board of Directors of Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.
(c)      “Cause” means that, prior to any termination of employment, the Participant shall have committed: (i) and been convicted of a criminal violation involving fraud, embezzlement or theft in connection with his duties or in the course of his employment with the Company; (ii) intentional wrongful damage to property of the Company; (iii) intentional wrongful disclosure of secret processes or confidential information of the Company; or (iv) intentional wrongful engagement in any competitive activity; and any such act shall have been demonstrably and materially harmful to the Company.  For purposes of this Plan, no act or failure to act on the part of the Participant shall be deemed “intentional” if it was due primarily to an error in judgment or negligence, but shall be deemed “intentional” only if done or omitted to be done by the Participant not in good faith and without reasonable belief that the Participant’s action or omission was in the best interest of the Company.
(d)      “Code” means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.
(e)      “Committee” means the Compensation and Organization Committee of the Board, so long as each member of that committee qualifies as an outside director within the meaning of Section 162(m)(4)(C) of the Code.  If and when any member of the Compensation Committee of the Board does not so qualify, the term “Committee,” as used in the Plan, will mean a subcommittee of the Compensation and Organization Committee comprised solely of all of the members of that committee who do so qualify.
(f)      “Company” means Cleveland-Cliffs Inc, its divisions and subsidiaries.
(g)      “Participant” means a senior executive officer of the Company who is selected by the Committee to participate in the Plan.
(h)      “Plan” means this Executive Management Performance Incentive Plan, as amended from time to time.
(i)      “Plan Year” means the Company’s fiscal year.

	
			
	 
	 
	 

3.      Administration.  The Plan will be administered by the Committee.  Subject to the rule of administration, interpretation, and construction set forth in Section 11 below, the Committee will have the authority to construe and interpret the Plan and any Awards made under the Plan; to establish, apply, amend, and waive rules and regulations for the administration of the Plan; and to make all other determinations that the Committee deems necessary or convenient for the administration of the Plan.  Any determination by the Committee with respect to any matter arising under or connected with the Plan will be final, binding, and conclusive on all employees and Participants and anyone claiming under or through any of them.
4.      Participants.  The Committee will select the individual Participants for participation in the Plan for each Plan Year from among the senior executive officers of the Company.  This selection will be made by not later than 90 days after the beginning of the Plan Year (or by not later than such other date as may be the applicable deadline for a particular Award to a particular Participant for a Plan Year to qualify as “performance based” under Section 162(m)(4)(C) of the Code).
5.      Awards.  By not later than 90 days after the beginning of the Plan Year (or by not later than such other date as may be the applicable deadline for qualification of a particular Award as “performance based” under Section 162(m)(4)(C) of the Code), the Committee will establish in writing the method for computing the amount of compensation that will be payable under the Plan as an Award to each Participant for that Plan Year if the performance objectives established by the Committee for the Plan Year are attained in whole or in part.  The method established will be stated in terms of an objective formula or standard that precludes discretion to increase the amount of any Award that would otherwise be due upon attainment of the objectives.  The Committee will be able to exercise negative discretion (within the meaning of Treasury Regulation Section 1.162-27(e)(2)(iii)(A)) with respect to any Award for a Plan Year.
6.      Performance Objectives.  The performance objectives for each Plan Year may be based on any of the following performance criteria, whether measured in absolute terms or relative to an external benchmark, and whether measured in dollars, rates of growth, or relative ratios to sales in the case of profit measures: net earnings or net income; operating earnings; pretax earnings; earnings per share; share price, including growth measures and total shareholder return; earnings before interest and/or taxes; earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and/or amortization; sales or revenues, whether in general, by type of product or service, or by type of customer; gross or operating margins; return measures, including pre-tax or after-tax, before or after depreciation and amortization, return on assets, capital, investment, equity, sales or revenue; economic profit or economic value added; cash flow, including operating cash flow, free cash flow, cash flow return on equity, and cash flow return on investment; productivity ratios; expense or cost control; market share; financial ratios as provided in credit agreements of the Company; working capital targets, including net working capital, inventory, accounts payable, and accounts receivable measured in absolute terms or as turnover metrics (e.g., relative to sales or cost of goods sold, including number of days); completion of acquisitions of business or companies; completion of divestitures and asset sales; safety performance; and any combination of any of the foregoing business criteria.  The Committee may designate a single objective criterion or multiple objective criteria for performance measurement purposes, with the measurement based on consolidated or business unit or divisional performance and/or on performance as compared with that of other publicly‐traded companies.  The foregoing criteria may have any reasonable definitions that the Committee may specify, which may include or exclude any or all of the following items, as the Committee may specify: extraordinary, unusual, 

or non-recurring items; effects of accounting changes; effects of currency fluctuations; effects of energy price fluctuations, effects of financing activities (e.g., effect on earnings per share of issuing convertible debt securities); effects of price escalators; expenses for restructuring or productivity initiatives; non-operating items; acquisition expenses; and effects of divestitures.  Any such performance criterion or combination of such criteria may apply to a Participant’s Award opportunity in its entirety or to any designated portion or portions of the Award opportunity, as the Committee may specify.  The performance objectives need not be the same for each Participant nor for each Award. 
7.      Maximum Award.  The maximum amount of the Award that may be paid under the Plan to any Participant for any Plan Year is [$3,000,000].
8.      Certification and Payment of Awards.  Following the end of each Plan Year, the Committee will certify in writing that the performance objectives and any other material terms applicable to each Award were in fact satisfied, in accordance with applicable Treasury regulations under Section 162(m) of the Code.  No Award will be paid unless and until the Committee so certifies.  Awards will be paid following certification by the Committee on such date as the Committee may specify.  Awards will be paid in cash, subject to applicable withholding.
9.      Continued Employment.  Unless otherwise provided by the Committee in any particular circumstance or as provided in the last sentence of this Section 9, payment of Awards with respect to any Plan Year will be contingent on continued employment by the Company through the date on which the Awards are paid following certification by the Committee.  If a Participant dies, becomes disabled (as “disability” is defined in the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc 2007 Incentive Equity Plan), retires, or is terminated by the Company without Cause after the start of a Plan Year, the Participant or his estate will be entitled to a pro rata Award equal to the amount of the Award that the Participant would have earned during the entire Plan Year had the Participant continued in the active employ of the Company through the end of the Plan Year (as determined by the Committee) multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of calendar days in the Plan Year through the date of death or disability and the denominator of which is 365, which pro rata Award will be paid at the same time as a full year Award would have otherwise been paid.
10.      No Assignment of Awards; No Employment Agreement.  Until an Award is confirmed by the Committee, neither any Participant nor any person or entity claiming through a Participant will have any right to payment of an Award.  Participants will not have any claim against the assets of the Company and the obligation of the Company to pay any amount with respect to any confirmed Award will constitute only an unsecured contractual obligation to pay the Award to the Participant subject to the terms and conditions of the Plan.  Neither any provision of the Plan nor the selection of any employee as a Participant will constitute an employment agreement or affect the nature of the employment relationship between the Company and the Participant, which relationship, if not the subject of a separate employment agreement between the Participant and the Company, will remain “employment at will.”
11.      Interpretation.  Awards made under the Plan are intended to qualify as performance-based compensation under Section 162(m)(4)(C) of the Code.  If any provision of the Plan would prevent an Award from so qualifying, the Plan will be administered, interpreted, and construed to carry out that intention and any provision of the Plan that cannot be so administered, interpreted, and construed will, to that extent, be disregarded.

12.      Amendment and Termination.  The Board may amend or terminate the Plan at any time.  The Plan will remain in effect until terminated by the Board.
13.      Applicable Law.  The terms of the Plan will be governed by the laws of the State of Ohio, without reference to the conflicts of laws principles of that State.
14.      Shareholder Approval.  Payment of awards under the Plan is contingent upon shareholder approval of the Plan, in accordance with applicable Treasury regulations under Section 162(m) of the Code.  Unless and until shareholder approval is obtained, no awards will be paid under the Plan.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc has executed this Executive Management Performance Incentive Plan at Cleveland, Ohio, as of the 27th day of July, 2007.

	
		
	CLEVELAND-CLIFFS INC

	 

	By:
	/s/ Joseph A. Carrabba

	 
	Joseph A. Carrabba, President and CEO

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