Document:

Exhibit 10.1

 

EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

 

This Employment Agreement (“Agreement”) is made
effective as of November 1, 2007 by and between Open Energy Corporation (the “Company”)
and Christopher Gopal (“Gopal” or “Employee”) (individually, a “party” and
together, the “parties”).

 

NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual
promises set forth herein, the parties agree as follows:

 

Position
and Responsibilities.

 

1.             Employment. Employee will begin
employment with the Company on November 1, 2007, as Executive Vice President,
World Wide Operations. Employee reports directly to the President and COO of
the Company. Employee shall have the powers and duties commensurate with such
position. Employee’s precise responsibilities and job description are subject
to change at any time in the sole and absolute discretion of the Company.

 

2.             Outside Activities. Employee
shall devote his best efforts and substantially all of his business time and
attention to the business of the Company and performance of the services
customarily incident to such office and to such other services as the CEO or
board of directors my reasonably request. During his employment, Employee shall not, without Employer’s prior written
consent, render to others services of any kind for compensation, or engage in
any other business activity that would materially interfere with the
performance of his duties under this Agreement. However,
subject to Employer’s approval, Employee will be permitted to serve on a
maximum of two Boards of Directors, with their attendant duties and
compensation; these Directorships have not been identified or determined as of
this date.

 

3.             At Will Employment. Employee
will be employed on an at-will basis. Either Employee or Company may terminate
the Employment at any time, with or without cause. The Company also retains the
right to transfer, demote, suspend or administer discipline with or without
cause and with or without notice, at any time. The at-will nature of the
employment relationship may only be modified in a writing signed by Employee
and the Company’s CEO. Notwithstanding the foregoing, if Employee is terminated
without cause, he shall receive twelve months continuation of salary and
benefits.

 

Compensation

 

4.             Base Annual Salary. The
Company shall pay to Employee an initial base salary at an annual rate of two
hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) in accordance with the Company’s customary
payroll practices.

 

5.             Bonuses. Employee will be
entitled to participate in a fiscal 2007-08 Incentive plan to be designed and
approved by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors. In the absence
of a fiscal 2007-08 Incentive Plan, the Company and Employee will define a
fiscal 2008 performance target to be mutually agreed by December 31, 2007. The
amount of the bonus will be based on the attainment of a fiscal 2007-08
performance target and based on the performance of the Company and the
Employee. Additionally the Employee will be entitled to participate in future
fiscal year incentive plans with performance conditions to be agreed.

 

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6.             Equity Compensation. The
Company shall grant an initial 1,200,000 options under the terms of the 2006
Equity Compensation Plan which shall vest 180,000 on November 1, 2007 and 85,000
at the end of each calendar quarter for twelve quarters beginning December 31,
2007 and ending September 30, 2010. On October 1, 2008, provided that Employee is
actively employed under this Agreement and his employment has not been
terminated prior to that date, the Company shall grant additional equity
compensation to Employee under the terms of the 2006 Equity Compensation Plan
or any comparable equity compensation plan which may then be in effect which
shall provide the benefit of the equivalent of 1,800,000 shares of the Company’s
common stock as of the date of this Agreement, vesting one twelfth at the end
of each calendar quarter for twelve quarters beginning December 31, 2008 and
ending September 30, 2011.

 

7.             Withholdings. All
compensation and benefits to Employee hereunder shall be subject to all
federal, state, local and other withholdings and similar taxes and payments
required by applicable law.

 

Expense
Allowances and Fringe Benefits.

 

8.             Fringe Benefits. During his
employment, Employee shall be eligible to receive and participate in all
standard fringe benefits generally made available to other executive employees
when and as he becomes eligible for them, as such benefits may be determined,
changed, or rescinded from time to time by the Company

 

9.             Vacation Accrual. Employee
shall be eligible to accrue paid vacation each year from the date of employment
in accordance with the Company policy. The vacation accrual will initially be
at the rate of four weeks per annum and be subject to a maximum accrual, or
cap, of five (5) weeks.

 

10.           Expense Reimbursement. The
Company shall reimburse Employee for any and all expenses reasonably incurred
by the Employee in the course and scope of Employee’s duties and which are
substantiated in accordance with Company’s reasonable policies and procedures. Air
travel to other countries shall be business class.

 

11.           IRC Section 409A. To the
extent that this Agreement or any part thereof is deemed to be a nonqualified
deferred compensation plan subject to Section 409A of the Code and the
regulations and guidance promulgated thereunder, (i) the provisions of
this Agreement shall be interpreted in a manner to comply in good faith with
Section 409A of the Code, and (ii) the parties hereto agree to amend this
Agreement, if necessary, for the purposes of complying with Section 409A of the
Code promptly upon issuance of any regulations or guidance thereunder; provided
that any such amendment shall not materially change the present value of the
benefits payable to Employee hereunder or otherwise materially and adversely
affect Employee, or the Company or any of the Related Entities, without the
written consent of Employee or the Company, as the case may be.

 

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Confidentiality,
Intellectual Property and Company Policies

 

12.           Confidentiality.

 

(a)           In addition to his duty to preserve
information protected by the attorney client privilege and the work product
doctrine, Employee shall not, during the term of this Agreement or at any time
thereafter, impart to anyone or use any Confidential Information or Employee
may acquire in the performance of Employee’s duties, except as required by law.
Employee will hold in complete confidence and not disclose, produce, publish,
permit access to, or reveal any information and material which is proprietary
to Company, whether or not marked as “confidential” or “proprietary” and which
is disclosed to or obtained by Employee, which relates to Company’s business
activities (“Confidential Information”). Confidential Information shall not
include any information which is publicly available at the time of disclosure
or subsequently becomes publicly available through no fault of Employee or any
of its agents or employees.

 

(b)           Employee shall take all reasonable
measures necessary to protect the confidentiality of the Confidential
Information and to avoid disclosure or use of the Confidential Information,
except as permitted herein, including the highest degree of care that Employee
utilizes to protect Employee’s own confidential information. Employee shall
promptly notify Company in writing of any disclosure, misuse or
misappropriation of Confidential Information which may come to Employee’s
attention.

 

(c)           Disclosure of Confidential
Information is not precluded if such disclosure is in response to a valid order
of a court or other governmental body of the United States or any political
subdivision thereof; provided that Employee will first give notice to Company
and make a reasonable effort to obtain a protective order requiring that the
Confidential Information be disclosed only for limited purposes for which the
order was issued.

 

(d)           Employee shall not disclose the
Confidential Information to any third party without first obtaining Company’s
written consent and shall disclose the Confidential Information only to its own
employees having a need to know. Employee shall promptly notify Company of any
items of Confidential Information prematurely disclosed.

 

(e)           Employee agrees that Company’s
Confidential Information has been developed or obtained by the investment of
significant time, effort and expense and provides Company with a significant
competitive advantage in its business. If Employee fails to comply with any
obligations hereunder, Employee agrees that Company will suffer immediate,
irreparable harm for which monetary damages will provide inadequate
compensation. Accordingly, Employee agrees that Company will be entitled, in
addition to any other remedies available to it, at law or in equity, to
immediate injunctive relief to specifically enforce the terms of this
Agreement.

 

(f)            The obligations set forth in this
Paragraph 12 and its subparagraphs shall survive expiration or termination of
this Agreement.

 

13.           No Solicitation. Employee
agrees that during Employee’s employment and for a one year period after the
termination of said employment, Employee will not solicit for hire any current
employees of the Company.

 

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14.           Assignment of Inventions. Employee
agrees that during the Term that all inventions that are developed using
equipment, supplies, facilities or trade secrets of the Company, or result from
work performed by Employee for the Company (collectively “Assigned Inventions”),
will be the sole and exclusive property of the Company and are hereby
irrevocably assigned by Employee to the Company.

 

15.           Assignment of Intellectual
Property Rights. In addition to the foregoing assignment of Assigned
Inventions to the Company, Employee hereby irrevocably transfers and assigns to
the Company: (a) all worldwide patents, patent applications, copyrights, mask
works, trade secrets and other intellectual property rights in any Assigned
Invention, and (b) any and all “Moral Rights” (as defined below) that Employee
may have in or with respect to any Assigned Invention. Employee also hereby
forever waives and agrees never to assert any and all Moral Rights Employee may
have in or with respect to any Assigned Invention, even after expiration or
termination of this Agreement. For the purposes of this Agreement, “Moral
Rights” mean any rights to claim authorship of an Assigned Invention to object
to or prevent the modification of any Assigned Invention, or to withdraw from
circulation or control the publication or distribution of any Assigned
Invention, and any similar right, existing under judicial or statutory law of
any country in the world, or under any treaty, regardless of whether or not
such right is denominated or generally referred to as a “moral right.”

 

16.           Work for Hire. Employee acknowledges
and agrees that any copyrightable works prepared by Employee during the Term
are “works for hire” under the Copyright Act and that the Company will be
considered the author and owner of such copyrightable works.

 

17.           Return of Materials. On termination of the Employee’s employment for any
reason whatsoever, the Employee agrees to deliver promptly to the Company all
files, forms, brochures, books, materials, written correspondence, memoranda,
documents, manuals, computer disks, software products and lists of any nature
whatsoever pertaining to the business of the Corporation and its affiliates and
subsidiaries in the possession of the Employee or directly or indirectly under
the control of the Employee and not to make for his personal or business use or
that of any other person, reproductions or copies of any such property or other
property of the Corporation and its affiliates and subsidiaries.

 

18.           Human Resources Policy and
Procedures. Employee agrees to review and abide by personnel policies as
well as any Employee Handbook issued by Company. Employee understands that
Company has the right to modify or rescind any policies and procedures for any
reason and without notice, except the policy regarding at-will employment.

 

General
Provisions.

 

19.           Governing Law and Forum. This
Agreement shall be governed in accordance with the laws of the State of
California. Any disputes arising out of Employee’s employment or this Agreement
shall be brought in San Diego County, California.

 

20.           Severability. If any provision
in this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall nevertheless continue in
full force without being impaired or invalidated in anyway.

 

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21.           Entire Agreement. This
Agreement contains all of the terms agreed upon by the parties with respect to
the subject matter of this Agreement, and supersedes any and all prior
agreements, arrangements, communications, understandings, documents or rules,
either oral or in writing, between the parties for the employment of Employee,
and contain all of the covenants and agreements between the parties for such
employment in any manner whatsoever. Each party to this Agreement acknowledges
that no representations, inducements, promises or agreements, orally or
otherwise, have been made by any party or anyone acting on behalf of any party
which is not embodied in this Agreement. Any modification of this Agreement
will be effective only if in writing signed by Employee and Company’s
President.

 

 

	
  OPEN ENERGY CORPORATION

  	
  Employee

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  
	
  By:
  

  	
  /s/
  David P. Saltman

  	
   

  	
  /s/
  Christopher Gopal

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
     David
  P. Saltman

  	
   

  	
  Christopher
  Gopal

  
	
  Its:

  	
     Chairman

  	
   

  
						

 

5Exhibit 10.1

 

NIC INC. 2006 AMENDED AND RESTATED

STOCK OPTION AND INCENTIVE PLAN

 

Restricted Stock Agreement

 

The Company
seeks to provide a means by which the Company, through the grant of the Shares
to the Grantee, may retain the Grantee’s services and motivate the Grantee to
exert his or her best efforts on behalf of the Company and any Affiliate;

 

NOW,
THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and for other good and valuable
consideration, the receipt and adequacy of which is hereby acknowledged, the
parties agree as follows:

 

1.             Grant of Restricted Stock. NIC Inc.,
a Colorado corporation (the “Company”), hereby grants to                  
(“Grantee”), as of           ,
20     (the “Grant Date”)             
shares of the Company’s no par value Common Stock (the “Shares”), subject to
the restrictions, terms, conditions and other provisions of this Restricted
Stock Agreement (the “Agreement”) and of the NIC Inc. 2006 Amended and Restated
Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “Plan”), which restrictions, terms,
conditions and other provisions are incorporated herein by this reference. Unless
otherwise defined herein, the terms defined in the Plan shall have the same
defined meanings in this Agreement.

 

A certificate
for the Shares granted pursuant to this Agreement will be issued to Grantee
following the lapse of all restrictions and the compliance with all terms and
conditions set forth in this Agreement and the Plan (subject to any adjustment
to the number of Shares as provided in Section 3 hereof). Notwithstanding the
foregoing, in the event of separation or termination of the Grantee’s
employment with the Company for any reason, including as a result of the
Grantee’s retirement, death or disability, all unreleased, restricted Shares
shall be forfeited upon such separation or termination.

 

2.             Restrictions.

 

(a)           No Shares shall be released from restrictions
until the anniversary of the Grant Date specified on Exhibit A and
compliance with any other conditions specified on Exhibit A of this
Agreement, subject to earlier release pursuant to the terms of this Agreement
(the “Release Date”).

 

(b)           From the date of this Agreement until the Release
Date, Grantee shall not sell, assign, exchange, transfer, pledge, hypothecate
or otherwise dispose of or encumber any of the Shares.

 

3.             Terms and Conditions.

 

(a)           Adjustments in Event
of Change in Common Stock. If any change is made in the Shares, without the receipt of
consideration by the Company (through merger, consolidation, reorganization,
recapitalization, reincorporation, stock dividend, dividend in property other
than cash, stock split, liquidating dividend, combination of shares, exchange
of shares, change in corporate structure or other transaction not

 

 

involving the receipt of
consideration by the Company), the number of Shares will be appropriately
adjusted in the class(es) and number of shares and price per share of stock of
those subject Shares in such manner as the Board may deem equitable to prevent
substantial dilution or enlargement of the rights granted to the Grantee;
provided, however, that no such adjustment shall cause the Company to issue a
fractional share. Such adjustments shall be final, binding and conclusive. (The
conversion of any convertible securities of the Company shall not be treated as
a transaction not involving the receipt of consideration by the Company.)

 

(b)           Sale of the Company. In the event of a dissolution, liquidation or
sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Company, or that the
Company is not the surviving corporation in any merger, consolidation, or
reorganization, then any Shares not otherwise fully vested, shall automatically
accelerate immediately prior to the effective date of the transaction and shall
become vested in full at that time. No such acceleration, however, shall occur
if and to the extent: (i) this Agreement is, in connection with the
transaction, assumed by the successor corporation (or parent thereof), or (ii)
the Shares are replaced with a cash incentive program of the successor
corporation which preserves the Fair Market Value of the Shares at the time of
the transaction and provides for subsequent pay-out in accordance with the
vesting schedule set forth on Exhibit A.

 

(i)            Immediately
following the effective date of the transaction, this Agreement shall terminate
and cease to be outstanding, except to the extent assumed by the successor
corporation (or parent thereof) in connection with the transaction.

 

(ii)           If this Agreement
is assumed in connection with the transaction, then the Board shall
appropriately adjust the number of shares and the kind of shares or securities
covered by this Agreement immediately after such transaction.

 

(iii)          This Agreement
shall not in any way affect the right of the Company to adjust, reclassify,
reorganize or otherwise change its capital or business structure or to merge,
consolidate, dissolve, liquidate, sell or transfer all or any part of its
business or assets.

 

(c)           Rights as a
Shareholder. Subject
to the terms of this Agreement, the Grantee shall have all the rights and
privileges of a shareholder of the Company while the Shares are subject to
stop-transfer instructions, or otherwise held in escrow, including the right to
vote and to receive dividends (if any).

 

(d)           No Rights to
Continued Relationship. The Shares shall not confer upon the Grantee any right with respect to
continuance of employment by the Company or by an Affiliate, nor shall it
interfere in any way with the right of his or her employer to terminate his or
her employment at any time.

 

2

 

The Shares shall not confer upon the Grantee any right with respect to
continuance of a directorship of the Company or of an Affiliate, nor shall it
interfere in any way with the right of the shareholders to remove him or her as
a director at any time.

 

The Shares shall not confer upon the Grantee any right with respect to
continuance of any consulting arrangement with the Company or any Affiliate,
nor shall it interfere in any way with the right of the Company or an
Affiliate, as the case may be, to terminate any such arrangement.

 

(e)           Compliance with
Other Laws and Regulations. This Agreement and the obligation of the Company to sell and deliver
Shares hereunder, shall be subject to all applicable federal and state laws,
rules, and regulations, and to such approvals by any government or regulatory
agency as may be required. The Company shall not be required to issue or
deliver any certificates for Shares prior to the completion of any registration
or qualification of such Shares under any federal or state law, or any rule or
regulation of any governmental body which the Company shall, in its sole
discretion, determine to be necessary or advisable.

 

To the extent applicable, it is intended that this Agreement and the
Plan comply with the provisions of Section 409A of the Code. This Agreement and
the Plan shall be administered in a manner consistent with this intent, and any
provision that would cause this Agreement or the Plan to fail to satisfy
Section 409A of the Code shall have no force or effect until amended to comply
with Section 409A of the Code (which amendment may be retroactive to the extent
permitted by Section 409A of the Code and may be made by the Company without
the consent of the Grantee).

 

(f)            Withholding Taxes. The Grantee agrees to make appropriate
arrangements with the Company or Affiliate, as the case may be, for the
satisfaction of all federal, state and local income and employment tax
withholding requirements applicable to the lapse of restrictions on the Shares.
No certificates representing Shares will be delivered until the Grantee has
made acceptable arrangements for these withholding requirements. Unless denied
by the Committee, the Grantee may elect to pay all minimum required amounts of
tax withholding, or any part thereof, by electing to transfer to the Company,
or have withheld from any shares otherwise eligible to be delivered under this
Agreement, shares of Common Stock having a value equal to the minimum amount
required to be withheld under federal, state or local law or such lesser amount
as may be elected by the Grantee. The value of shares of Common Stock to be
transferred to the Company shall be the fair market value of the shares on the
date that the amount of tax to be withheld is to be determined (the “Tax Date”),
as determined by the Company. Any such elections by the Grantee to have shares
of Common Stock withheld for this purpose will be subject to the following
restrictions:

 

(i)            All elections must
be made prior to the Tax Date;

 

(ii)           All elections shall
be irrevocable; and

 

3

 

(iii)          If the Grantee is
an officer or director of the Company within the meaning of Section 16 of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (“Section 16”), the Grantee must satisfy the
requirements of such Section 16 and any applicable rules thereunder with
respect to the use of Common Stock to satisfy such tax withholding obligation.

 

4.             Investment Representation. The
Company may require that the Grantee furnish to the Company, as a condition of
acquiring stock hereunder, (a) written assurances satisfactory to the Company,
or counsel for the Company, as to the Grantee’s knowledge and experience in
financial and business matters and/or to employ a purchaser representative
reasonably satisfactory to the Company, or counsel for the Company, who is
knowledgeable and experienced in financial and business matters, and that he or
she is capable of evaluating, alone or together with the purchaser
representative, the merits and risks of acquiring the Shares; and (b) written
assurances satisfactory to the Company, or counsel for the Company, stating
that the Grantee is acquiring the stock for the Grantee’s own account and not
with any present intention of selling or otherwise distributing the stock. The
Company may (a) restrict the transferability of the stock and require a legend
to be endorsed on the certificates representing such stock, as appropriate to
reflect resale restrictions, if any, imposed by the Board or as appropriate to
comply with any applicable state or federal securities laws, rules or
regulations; and (b) condition the issuance and delivery of stock upon the
listing, registration or qualification of such stock upon a securities exchange
or quotation system or under applicable securities laws. The foregoing
requirements, and any assurances given pursuant to such requirements, shall be
inoperative if (a) the issuance of stock has been registered under a then
currently effective registration statement under the Securities Act, or (b) as
to any particular requirement, a determination is made by counsel for the
Company that such requirement need not be met in the circumstances under the
then applicable securities laws. The Company may, upon advice of counsel to the
Company, place legends on stock certificates as such counsel deems necessary or
appropriate in order to comply with applicable securities laws, including, but
not limited to, legends restricting the transfer of the stock.

 

5.             Grantee Bound by the Plan. The Grantee
agrees to be bound by all the terms and provisions of the Plan. To the extent
that the terms of this Agreement are inconsistent with the terms of the Plan,
the terms of the Plan shall govern. The captions used in this Agreement, and
the Plan are inserted for convenience and shall not be deemed a part of the
Agreement for construction or interpretation.

 

6.             Governing Law. This
Agreement and the Plan shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the
State of Colorado, without regard to the conflict of laws principles.

 

7.             Notices. Any
notice to the Company or the Board that is required to be made under the terms
of the Agreement or under the terms of the Plan shall be addressed to the
Company in care of its president at 12 Corporate Woods, 10975 Benson Street,
Suite 390, Overland Park, Kansas 66210. Any notice that is required to be made
to the Grantee under the terms of the Agreement or under the terms of the Plan
shall be addressed to him or her at the address indicated below:

 

4

 

unless the
Grantee notifies the Company of his or her address change in writing as
provided in this Section 7 in which case the notice shall be addressed to the
Grantee at his or her new address. A notice under this Section 7 shall be
deemed to have been given or delivered upon personal delivery or upon deposit
in the United States mail, by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid and
properly addressed as provided in this Section 7.

 

* * * * *

 

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