Document:

exv10w65

 

Exhibit 10.65

THE TALBOTS, INC.

CHANGE IN CONTROL AGREEMENT

Paula Bennett

President, J. Jill Brand

c/o The Talbots, Inc.

One Talbots Drive

Hingham, Massachusetts 02043

Dear Paula:

     This agreement (the “Agreement”) reflects our mutual understanding regarding payments to be
made to, and benefits to be received by, you in the event your employment with The Talbots, Inc., a
Delaware corporation (including its subsidiaries, the “Company”), is terminated by the Company
within twelve (12) months following a Change in Control. This Agreement shall become effective on
your employment commencement date. The capitalized termed used in this Agreement that are not
otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings given to such terms in Appendix A hereto,
incorporated herein by this reference and hereby made a part hereof.

     1. Termination after Change In Control. In the event that the Company
terminates your
employment Without Cause within twelve (12) months after the occurrence of a Change in Control,
then the following shall occur:

	 	(a)	 	The Company shall pay to you on the effective date of such termination: (i)
salary for services rendered up to and including the date of termination, (ii) any and
all compensation to which
you may be entitled as of the date of termination pursuant to The Talbots, Inc. 2003
Executive Stock Based Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) or any other compensation or benefit
plan to the extent permitted by such plans, and (iii) reimbursement for outstanding
ordinary and reasonable expenses incurred by you in connection with the performance of
your duties for the Company up to and including the date on which your employment is
terminated;

	 	(b)	 	The Company shall pay to you, within thirty (30) days after the effective date of
such termination, an amount of severance pay equal to one times the sum of:

	 	(i)	 	your annual base salary at the rate in effect on the date of such
termination, and

	 	(ii)	 	your “target” annual cash incentive bonus as then established for
you and determined in accordance with the applicable annual cash incentive bonus
arrangement in place from time to time (provided that the target annual cash
incentive bonus shall be no less than 60% of your annual base salary).

               You shall continue to participate, on the same terms and conditions, in any benefit programs
of the Company in which you participated immediately prior to such termination (including, without
limitation, as applicable, any disability insurance benefit program, any medical insurance program,
and dental insurance program, and any life insurance program) from time of such termination until
the earlier of: (i) the end of the one (1) year period beginning from the effective date of the
termination of your employment, or (ii) such time as you are eligible to be covered by a comparable
program of a subsequent employer. You hereby agree to notify the Company promptly if and when you
begin employment with another employer and if and when you become eligible to participate in any
pension or other benefit plans, programs or arrangements of another employer.

     2. Assignment. None of the parties hereto shall, without the consent of the
other, assign or transfer this

 

 

Agreement or any rights or obligations hereunder. This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof
shall be binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the parties hereto, and their successors
(including successors by merger, consolidation or similar transactions), permitted assigns,
executors, administrators, personal representatives, heirs and distributees.

     3. Miscellaneous.

     (a) Entire Agreement. This Agreement contains the entire understanding between and
among the parties
hereto with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous
understandings and agreements, written or oral, between us respecting such subject matter;
provided however, that this Agreement shall not be construed to impair or otherwise
adversely affect the grant of any Award (as such term is defined in the Plan) hereafter made to you
under the Plan or the Restricted Stock Award Agreement, the Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement,
the Severance Agreement, and the Offer Letter, each as effective as of an even date hereof between
Company and you and all of which remain in full force and effect. For as long as this Agreement
is in effect, to the degree there is any conflict between the severance payments and benefit
provisions to which you are then entitled under this Agreement and those of any other written
agreement which continues to be in effect between the Company and you, such conflict shall be
resolved by the Company in good faith by affording you the more favorable severance payments or
benefits contained in any such agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein relieves
you from the obligation to comply with the restrictive covenants of all such agreements or from the
consequences of noncompliance therewith regardless under which agreement the severance payments
and/or severance benefits may be deemed to have been made. Furthermore, for purposes of
clarification only, if you receive severance pay and benefits under one agreement, you shall not be
entitled to severance pay or benefits under any other agreement, plan or arrangement.

     (b) Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance
with the
laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts applicable to contracts made and to be wholly performed
in that state.

If this letter sets forth our agreement on the subject matter hereof, kindly sign, date and return
to The Talbots, Inc. the enclosed copy of this letter which will then constitute our binding
agreement on the subject.

	 	 	 	 	 
	 	Sincerely,

THE TALBOTS, INC.

 	 
	 	By:  	/s/ John Fiske, III
 	 
	 	 	John Fiske, III 	 
	 	 	Senior Vice President

Human Resources 	 
	 

Executive:

	 	 	 	 	 
	 	 	 
	/s/ Paula Bennett
 	 	 
	Name:  	Paula Bennett 	 	 
	Title:  	President, J. Jill Brand 	 	 
	Date: January 28, 2008 	  	 

 

 

	 	 	 	 	 

Appendix A

Definitions. As used in the Change in Control Agreement.

	(a)	 	“Change in Control” shall mean (i) the acquisition (including as a result of a
merger) by any “person” (as such term is used in Sections 3(a)(9), 13(d) and 14(d) of
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), or persons “acting
in concert” (which for purposes of this Agreement shall include two (2) or more persons
voting together on a consistent basis pursuant to an agreement or understanding between
them to act in concert and/or as a “group” within the meaning of Sections 13(d)(3) and
14(d)(2) of the Exchange Act), other than the Company or any of its subsidiaries, and
other than AEON (U.S.A.), Inc. or any of its subsidiaries or “affiliates” (as such term
is defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) (collectively, an “Acquiring Person”),
of beneficial ownership (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act),
directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing more than 25 percent
of the combined voting power of the then outstanding securities of the Company entitled
to then vote generally in the election of directors of the Company, and no other
stockholder is the beneficial owner (within the meaning of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange
Act), directly or indirectly, of a percentage of such securities higher than that held
by the Acquiring Person; or (ii) individuals, who, as of the effective date of this
Agreement (the “Effective Date”), constitute the Board (the “Incumbent Board”) cease for
any reason to constitute at least a majority of the Board; provided that any individual
becoming a director subsequent to the Effective Date, whose election or nomination for
election by the Company’s stockholders was approved by a vote of at least two-thirds of
the directors then comprising the Incumbent Board shall be considered as though such
individual were a member of the Incumbent Board, but excluding as a member of the
Incumbent Board, any such individual whose initial assumption of office is in connection
with an actual or threatened election contest relating to the election of the directors
of the Company (as such terms are used in Rule 14a-11 of Regulation 14A under the
Exchange Act) and further excluding any individual who is an “affiliate”, “associate”
(as such terms are defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act) or designee of an
Acquiring Person having or proposing to acquire beneficial ownership (within the meaning
of Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly, of securities of the
Company representing more than 10 percent of the combined voting power of the then
outstanding securities of the Company entitled to then vote generally in the election of
directors of the Company.

	(b)	 	“Without Cause” shall mean termination by Talbots of your employment as a result
of an event or condition other than (i) your death, (ii) your inability substantially to
perform your employment duties as a result of physical or mental illness or injury for a
continuous periods of at least six months (any dispute as to your incapacities shall be
resolved by an independent physician, reasonably acceptable to you or your legal
representative and the Company’s Board of Directors, whose determination shall be final
and binding upon you and the Company), (iii) any material breach by you of this
Agreement or any other agreement to which you and the Company are both parties (which is
not cured within 30 days following written notice from the Company), (iv) any act or
omission to act by you which may have a material and adverse effect on the Company’s
business or on your ability to perform services for the Company, including, without
limitation, the commission of any crime involving moral turpitude or any felony, or (v)
any material misconduct or material neglect of duties by you in connection with the
business or affairs of the Company.exv10w66

 

Exhibit 10.66

SEVERANCE AGREEMENT

     This Severance Agreement (the “Agreement”) is made as of the Executive’s employment
commencement date, between The Talbots, Inc., a Delaware corporation (together with its
subsidiaries, the “Company”) and Paula Bennett (the “Executive”). This Agreement sets forth the
agreement of the parties relating to the severance arrangements for the Executive under certain
circumstances. Capitalized terms used in this Agreement are defined in Section 7 hereof.

     1. Severance Pay and Associated Benefits Upon a Qualified Termination.

          (a) Severance Benefits. In the event of a Qualified Termination, and subject to the
terms of this Agreement, the Company will provide to the Executive the payments and benefits
described in this Section 1 (collectively, the “Severance Benefits”).

          (b) Severance Pay. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, in the event of a
Qualified Termination, the Company will pay to the Executive severance pay in the gross amount
equal to 1.5 times the Executive’s annual base salary in effect immediately prior to such
termination (the “Severance Payment”), payable in equal installments in accordance with normal
Company payroll practices over a 18 month period beginning immediately following the Termination
Date (the “Severance Period”).

          (c) Benefits Continuation. Subject to the terms of this Agreement, upon any such
Qualified Termination, the Company will also arrange for the Executive to continue to participate
(through COBRA or otherwise), on substantially the same terms and conditions as in effect for the
Executive (including any required employee contribution) immediately prior to such termination, in
the medical and dental programs provided to the Executive immediately prior to such termination
until the earlier of (i) the end of the Severance Period, or (ii) such time as the Executive is
eligible to be covered by comparable benefits of a subsequent employer. The Executive agrees to
notify the Company promptly if and when the Executive begins employment with another employer and
if and when the Executive becomes eligible to participate in any benefit or other welfare plans,
programs or arrangements of another employer. Executive agrees that any automobile/housing
allowance or other personal benefits provided by the Company to the Executive immediately prior to
such termination will cease as of the Termination Date. The Company, however, may choose to make
any separate arrangements with the Executive to assist with the transfer of any such benefits
within 90 days of the Termination Date.

          (d) Retirement Benefits. Nothing in this Agreement will modify or otherwise limit any
of the Executive’s rights and benefits as may exist under the terms of any qualified, nonqualified
or supplemental retirement, 401(k), savings or deferred compensation plans of the Company
(excluding any severance or severance compensation plans) (“Retirement Plans”), nor will any
benefits or amounts payable under any such Retirement Plans reduce or offset any Severance Benefits
afforded to the Executive under this Agreement.

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          (e) Equity Awards.

               (i) If in the event of a Qualified Termination the Executive still holds one or more options
to purchase shares of Company stock which have not expired and have not been fully exercised, the
Executive (or his or her heirs or estate), at any time within 3 years after the Termination Date
(but in no event after the option has expired), may exercise any such options with respect to any
shares as to which the Executive could have exercised the options on the Termination Date.

               (ii) The Executive agrees that until the expiration of 6 months from the Termination Date, the
Executive will not engage in the purchase or sale of the Company’s common stock (including without
limitation any “cashless exercise” of any stock options involving the sale of any Company common
stock as part of such option exercise) during any trading window “blackout” or “quiet period”
applicable to management level employees (“Quiet Period”); provided that in no event shall the
Executive be prohibited from making a purchase or sale of the Company’s stock or exercising stock
options for the Company’s stock if such sale, purchase or exercise is made pursuant to a written
plan for trading securities within the meaning of Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended (a “10b5-1 Trading Plan”), and such 10b5-1 Trading Plan is consistent with the
Company’s insider trading policy and has been approved by the Company. The Executive acknowledges
that the Company reserves the right to modify the Quiet Period from time to time in its sole and
absolute discretion. The Company will provide the Executive with notice of Quiet Periods and
changes thereto at the time it provides such notice to the Company’s management level employees.
In addition, the Executive agrees to notify the Company’s General Counsel prior to exercising any
options or trading in the Company’s common stock within such 6 month period following the
Termination Date to ascertain whether such transaction would violate any Quiet Period covered by
this subsection (e)(ii).

               (iii) Except as otherwise expressly set forth in any agreement between the Executive and the
Company relating to any restricted stock or performance accelerated restricted stock award, in the
event of a Qualified Termination or other termination of employment, the Executive agrees that the
Company will be deemed to have exercised its repurchase option with respect to any shares of
unvested restricted stock or performance accelerated restricted stock of the Company held by the
Executive as of the Termination Date, and the Company will promptly pay the Executive $.01 for each
share.

          (f) Withholdings. The Company may deduct from the Executive’s Severance Payment and
any other payments otherwise due to the Executive, such withholding taxes and similar governmental
payments and charges as may be required.

          (g) Timing for Payment; Section 409A Restrictions. Notwithstanding anything in this
Agreement to the contrary, it is the intention of the parties that this Agreement comply with
Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and any regulations or
other guidance issued thereunder, and this Agreement and the payments of any benefits hereunder
will be operated and administered accordingly. Specifically, but not by limitation, the Executive
agrees that if, at the time of termination of employment, the Company is considered to be publicly
traded and the Executive is considered to be a specified employee, as

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defined in Section 409A (and as determined as of December 31 preceding the Executive’s
termination of employment, unless the Executive’s termination of employment occurs prior to April
30, in which case the determination will be made as of the second preceding December 31), then some
or all of such payments to be made under this Agreement as a result of the Executive’s termination
of employment will be deferred for no more than 6 months following such termination of employment,
if and to the extent the delay in such payments is necessary in order to comply with the
requirements of Section 409A of the Code after utilizing the short-term deferral and involuntary
separation pay plan regulations. Upon expiration of such 6 month period (or, if earlier, the
Executive’s death), any payments so withheld hereunder from the Executive hereunder will be
distributed to the Executive, with a payment of interest thereon credited at a rate of prime plus
1% (with such prime rate to be determined as of the actual payment date).

     2. Release and Waiver.

     The Company’s obligation to make the payments and provide the benefits to the Executive as set
forth in Section 1 above will be conditioned upon and subject to the Executive having delivered to
the Company an executed full and unconditional release (that is not subject to revocation) of any
and all claims against the Company, its parent entities, affiliates, employee benefit plans and
fiduciaries (to the extent permissible under ERISA), and their respective officers, employees,
directors, agents and representatives satisfactory in form and content to the Company’s counsel.

     3. Cooperation.

     In connection with a Qualified Termination or any other termination of the Executive’s
employment, the Executive agrees to reasonably cooperate with the Company prior to and in the 60
day period immediately following the Termination Date, subject to the Executive’s other
commitments, in promptly transitioning the Executive’s duties and activities within the Company to
the person or persons designated by the Company to receive them.

     4. Nondisparagement; Non-Solicitation; Confidentiality.

          (a) Nondisparagement. In connection with a Qualified Termination or any other
termination of the Executive’s employment, Executive agrees not to take action or make any
statement, written or oral, in the 1 year period following the Termination Date which is intended
to materially disparage the Company or its business.

          (b) Non-Solicitation. The Executive agrees that, during the 1 year period following a
Qualified Termination or any other termination of the Executive’s employment, the Executive will
not directly or indirectly solicit, attempt to hire, or hire any employee of the Company (or any
person who may have been employed by the Company during the last year of the term of the
Executive’s employment with the Company), or actively assist in such hiring by any other person or
business entity or encourage, induce or attempt to induce any such employee to terminate his or her
employment with the Company.

          (c) Confidentiality. The Executive will not in any manner following a Qualified
Termination or any other termination of the Executive’s employment, directly or indirectly, without
the express prior written consent of the Company, disclose or use any

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Confidential Information of the Company. “Confidential Information” will include all
information concerning the Company or any parent, subsidiary, affiliate, employee, customer or
supplier or other business associate of the Company or any affiliate (including but not limited to
any trade secrets or other confidential, proprietary or private matters), which has been or is
received by the Executive from the Company, or from any parent, subsidiary, affiliate or customer
or supplier or other business associate of the Company, and which is not known or generally
available to the public.

     5. Remedies.

     The Executive acknowledges and affirms that money damages cannot adequately compensate the
Company for any breach by the Executive of Section 4 of this Agreement and that the Company is
entitled to seek equitable relief (without posting any bond) in any federal or state court in
Massachusetts or other court of competent jurisdiction to prevent or otherwise restrain any actual
or threatened breach of the provisions of said Section and/or compel specific performance of, or
other compliance with, the terms thereof.

     6. Miscellaneous.

          (a) At-Will Employment. This Agreement is not a contract to employ the Executive for
a definite time period, and is not intended to be and does not constitute a contract or part of a
contractual agreement for continued employment, either express or implied, between the Company and
the Executive, it being acknowledged that the Executive’s employment is “at will” and that either
the Executive or the Company may terminate the employment relationship at any time, for any or no
reason, with or without Cause and with or without prior notice, but subject to the Executive’s
rights to Severance Benefits under the terms provided hereunder.

          (b) Successors and Assigns. This Agreement and all of the provisions hereof shall be
binding upon, and inure to the benefit of, the parties hereto and their successors (including
successors by merger, consolidation, sale or similar transaction, permitted assigns, executors,
administrators, personal representatives, heirs and distributees). This Agreement is personal in
nature and the rights and obligations of the Executive under this Agreement shall not be assigned
or transferred by the Executive.

          (c) Attorneys Fees. Each party shall bear his or her or its own attorney’s fees and
expenses.

          (d) Governing Law. This Agreement shall be interpreted in accordance with the
substantive laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts and without regard to any conflict of laws
provisions.

          (e) Effect on Other Agreements; Modification. This Agreement constitutes the entire
agreement between the Executive and the Company with respect to the subject matter of this
Agreement. This Agreement may be modified only in a writing signed by both parties. For as long
as this Agreement is in effect, to the degree there is any conflict between the severance payments
and benefit provisions to which the Executive is then entitled under this Agreement and those of
any other written agreement which continues to be in effect between the Company and the Executive,
such conflict shall be resolved by the Company in good faith by

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affording the Executive the more favorable severance payments or benefits contained in any
such agreement. Notwithstanding the foregoing, nothing herein relieves the Executive from the
obligation to comply with the restrictive covenants of all such agreements or from the consequences
of noncompliance therewith regardless under which agreement the severance payments and/or severance
benefits may be deemed to have been made. Furthermore, for purposes of clarification only, if an
Executive receives severance pay and benefits under one agreement, the Executive shall not be
entitled to severance pay or benefits under any other agreement, plan or arrangement.

          (f) Execution. This Agreement may be executed in one or more counterparts, each of
which when so executed shall be deemed to be an original, and all such counterparts together shall
constitute but one and the same instrument.

          (g) Notices. For the purpose of this Agreement, notices and all other communications
provided for in this Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given when
delivered or when mailed by United States registered mail, return receipt requested, postage
prepaid, addressed to the respective addresses set forth below, or to such other address as either
party may have furnished to the other in writing in accordance herewith, except that notice of
change of address shall be effective only upon actual receipt:

          To the Company:

          The Talbots, Inc.

          One Talbots Drive

          Hingham, Massachusetts 02043

          Attention: Senior Vice President/Human Resources, Talbots

          with a copy to:

          The Talbots, Inc.

          211 South Ridge Street

          Rye Brook, New York 10573

          Attn: General Counsel

          To the Executive:

          Paula Bennett

          [Home Address]

     7. Definitions.

     For purposes of this Agreement, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated below:

          (a) “Cause” for termination by the Company of the Executive’s employment shall mean
(i) any material breach by the Executive of this Agreement or any other agreement to which the
Executive and the Company are both parties (which is not cured within 30 days following written
notice from the Company), (ii) any act or omission to act by the Executive which may have a
material and adverse effect on the Company’s business or on the Executive’s

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ability to perform services for the Company, including, without limitation, the commission of
any crime involving moral turpitude or any felony, or (iii) any material misconduct or material
neglect of duties by the Executive in connection with the business or affairs of the Company.

          (b) “Code” shall have the meaning given that term in Section 1(g) hereof.

          (c) “Disability” shall mean the Executive’s inability, because of physical or mental
illness or injury, substantially to perform his or her duties of his or her position as a result of
physical incapacity for a continuous period of at least six (6) months. Any dispute at to the
Executive’s incapacitation shall be resolved by an independent physician selected by the Company’s
Board of Directors and reasonably acceptable to the Executive or his or her legal representative,
whose determination shall be final and binding upon both the Executive and the Company.

          (d) “Executive” shall mean the individual named in the first paragraph of this
Agreement.

          (e) “Good Reason” for termination by the Executive of the Executive’s employment shall
be a termination based on one or more of the following events occurring without the Executive’s
express written consent: (a) a substantial adverse reduction in the Executive’s duties, other than
during any period of illness or incapacity, such that the Executive no longer has the title of, or
serves, as a senior executive of a major branded business of the Company; (b) a material reduction
by the Company in the Executive’s annual base salary as in effect on the date hereof or as the same
may be increased from time to time; (c) the Company’s requiring that the Executive’s principal
place of business be at an office located more than 35 miles from the site of the Executive’s then
principal place of business, except for relocation to the Company’s then principal headquarters
location or for required travel on the Company’s business; or (d) a material breach of the
Company’s obligations to Executive under the January 3, 2008 Offer Letter (“Offer Letter”) except
for matters covered in (a) through (c) of this provision; which, with respect to subsections (a)
through (d) above, is not remedied by the Company within 45 days of receipt of written notice of
such event delivered by the Executive to the Company; provided, that the Executive may only
exercise his or her right to terminate employment for Good Reason within the 120 day period
immediately following the occurrence of any of the events described in subsections (a) through (d)
above.

          (f) “Qualified Termination” shall mean the Executive’s employment by the Company is
terminated, (i) by the Executive for Good Reason or (ii) by the Company for any reason other than
for Cause, death, Disability, or retirement at or after age 65.

          (g) “Quiet Period” shall have the meaning given that term in Section 1(e)(ii) hereof.

          (h) “Retirement Plans” shall have the meaning given that term in Section 1(d) hereof.

          (i) “Severance Benefits” shall have the meaning given that term in Section 1(a)
hereof.

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          (j) “Severance Payment” shall have the meaning given that term in Section 1(b) hereof.

          (k) “Severance Period” shall have the meaning given that term in Section 1(b) hereof.

          (l) “Termination Date” shall mean the date that the Executive’s employment
with the Company terminates for any reason or no reason.

[signature page follows]

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     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Severance Agreement as of the date first
above written.

	 	 	 	 	 
	 	THE TALBOTS, INC.

 	 
	 	By:  	/s/ John Fiske, III
 	 
	 	 	Duly Authorized 	 
	 	 	 	 
	 
	 	EXECUTIVE

 	 
	 	  	/s/ Paula Bennett
 	 
	 	 	Paula Bennett 	 
	 	 	President, J. Jill Brand 	 
	 

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