Document:

Exhibit 10.1

 

 

April 10,
2008

 

VIA
HAND DELIVERY

 

E.R.
“Skip” Autry

287
Suffield

Birmingham,
MI 48009

 

Dear
Skip:

 

The purpose of this letter (“Agreement”) is to confirm our
understanding and agreements regarding your separation from employment with
TriMas Corporation.  For purposes of this
Agreement, TriMas includes all of its subsidiaries and affiliates.

 

1.             Employment
and Severance Benefits

 

Your employment with TriMas will voluntarily end on April 11, 2008
(the “Termination Date”) and will constitute a “separation from service” as
defined under Treasury Regulations section 1.409A-1(h). Except as noted below,
TriMas, effective on the Termination Date, will discontinue your compensation
and benefits, except that TriMas will pay you any accrued and unused vacation
time for calendar year 2008.  The accrued
and unused vacation time will be paid at the next normal payroll date following
your separation from service.

 

In exchange for the agreements contained herein and after this Agreement
becomes binding, TriMas will pay you the severance benefits described below (“Benefits”).

 

(a)                                  Cash Compensation.  Compensation equal to one year of base
compensation ($360,000), less all applicable withholdings and similar taxes paid
to you in accordance with TriMas’ regular payroll schedule and practices over
next twelve (12) months.

 

(b)                                 Consulting Fee.   Cash compensation in the amount of $60,000 for
your provision of transition assistance and related financial advice, as may be
requested by TriMas for the sixty (60) day period following the Termination
Date, payable in a lump sum at the conclusion of such sixty (60) days, less
applicable withholdings and similar taxes.

 

(c)                                  COBRA Continuation of Health Care. Under the
federal law known as COBRA, you are eligible to elect to continue your current medical
benefits under TriMas group benefits (including health, dental and prescription
plans) for up to 18 months following the Termination Date for you and your
spouse and dependents, provided you and all other covered individuals remain
eligible for such coverage. If you timely elect to continue group health
coverage under COBRA and subject to

 

 

TriMas’ COBRA policies, TriMas will reimburse you on
a monthly basis for the portion of the COBRA insurance coverage for you, your
spouse and dependents that would have been attributable to the employer portion
if you had been an active employee.  The
reimbursement of the employer portion will continue until the earliest of (i) April 11,
2009, (ii) the date on which you become eligible to receive any medical
benefits under any plan or program of any other employer; or (iii) the
date of any other event that would cause you to lose COBRA coverage, such as
your failure to make COBRA payments.  The
portion of the COBRA payment that is reimbursed by TriMas will constitute
taxable income to you.  After the stated
continuation period, you will be responsible for 100% of the total COBRA costs.

 

(d)                                 Birmingham Country Club membership. The
equity interest in the Birmingham Country Club membership currently in your
name shall be retained by you; provided that effective from the Termination
Date you shall be responsible for all charges (including, but not limited to,
membership dues related to the period subsequent to the Termination Date)
related to the membership.

 

(e)                                  Apple Macintosh computer. TriMas will permit
you to keep for your personal use Apple Macintosh computer model number A1150
(serial number W8611CP1VJ1); provided that all TriMas proprietary data and
information will be removed by TriMas prior to delivery to you of the computer.

 

(f)                                    Attorneys’ fees. In connection with reasonable
attorneys’ fees you incur related to the conclusion of this Agreement, the
Company will reimburse you within 90 days up to an amount not to exceed $5,000.

 

2.             Termination of Other Benefits.
Except as provided herein, you will not receive other benefits and your right
to participate in or receive any and all TriMas benefits will terminate on the Termination
Date.  No amounts paid under this Agreement
shall constitute compensation for purposes of any such benefit plan.  Your rights to any accrued and vested
benefits under a qualified retirement plan shall be determined in accordance
with the applicable plan document.  In
addition, your rights pertaining to benefits under the 2002 Long Term Equity
Incentive Plan and 2006 Long Term Equity Incentive Plan will be determined in
accordance with the applicable plan document. Notwithstanding anything to the
contrary in the 2006 Long Term Equity Incentive Plan or your Restricted Stock
and Performance Unit Agreement dated as of September 1, 2007 (the “2007
Award”), you shall vest in one-third (1/3) of the Restricted Stock portion of
your 2007 Award  adjusted pro-rata to the
Termination Date, and the remaining Restricted Stock in your 2007 Award shall
be forfeited as of the Termination Date. 
The Performance Unit portion of your 2007 Award was forfeited as of December 31,
2007 when the designated performance target was not attained.

 

3.             Taxes.  Any payments made by TriMas hereunder are
subject to applicable federal, state and local tax withholding.  You agree that you are exclusively liable for
the payment of any federal, state, local or other taxes that may be due as a
result of any benefits received by you as provided in this Agreement.

 

4.             Confidentiality.  Upon the Termination Date, you will return to
TriMas all originals and copies of TriMas documents and all TriMas property. You
will continue to hold and treat as strictly confidential all Confidential Information.
You acknowledge that TriMas would be immediately and irreparably harmed by an
unauthorized disclosure of Confidential Information in such manner and extent
that it would be difficult or impossible to ascertain with certainty the 

 

2

 

exact financial or economic damages. For purposes of
this Agreement, “Confidential Information” includes, but is not limited to,
information (whether in tangible form or oral) relating to TriMas’ business, finances, customers, suppliers, property, employees,  technical information, concepts, ideas, trade
secrets, plans, formulas, drawings, designs, processes, procedures, inventions,
specifications, prototypes, samples, parts, data, and manufacturing techniques.

 

5.             Non-Competition.  You
agree that you are subject to the restrictive covenants and remedies set forth
on Attachment A, which is hereby incorporated into and made part of this
Agreement.  You acknowledge that this
Agreement provides additional and sufficient consideration for the release
contained therein.

 

6.             Non-Solicitation.  For a period of one year following
Termination Date, you shall not (i) directly or indirectly employ or
solicit, or receive or accept the performance of services by, any active
employee of TriMas or any of its subsidiaries who is employed primarily in
connection with the business, except in connection with general, non-targeted
recruitment efforts such as advertisements and job listings, or directly or
indirectly induce any employee of TriMas to leave TriMas, or assist in any of
the foregoing, or (ii) solicit for business (relating to the business) any
person who is a  customer or former
customer of TriMas or any of its subsidiaries, unless such person shall have
ceased to have been such a customer for a period of at least six (6) months.

 

7.             Cooperation.

 

(a)            Each party agrees that it will not in any way criticize,
disparage, attempt to discredit, demean or otherwise call into disrepute the
other party. With respect to TriMas, your obligations hereunder include its
successors, assigns, officers, directors, employees or agents, or any of TriMas’
products or services.

 

(b)            You agree that you
will not assist any party other than TriMas in any claim, litigation,
proceeding or investigation against TriMas or other Released Parties (as
defined below), except as required by law. 
You further agree that if you believe any such action is required by
law, you will first afford TriMas the opportunity to raise and obtain a ruling
on any claim of attorney-client or other privilege, attorney work product
protection, contractual or other defense that may be applicable.

 

(c)            You agree to provide, at TriMas’ reasonable expense, your
cooperation to TriMas and the Released Parties in any existing or future claim,
litigation, proceeding, investigation or other judicial, administrative or
legislative matter in which your assistance may be desired by TriMas.

 

8.             Release; Acknowledgments.

 

(a)            You release and discharge TriMas, its directors,
officers, agents, employees (current and former), subsidiaries and any and all
affiliate companies, as well as any successor to TriMas (the “Released Parties”),
for yourself, your spouse, heirs, agents and assignees, from all claims, liabilities,
demands, and causes of action, fixed or contingent and known or unknown,
arising from your employment, or any condition or benefit related to your
employment or as a result of your separation from employment which you ever
had, now have or may have as of the date of signature of this Agreement. This
includes, but is not limited to (i) claims arising under any  written or oral agreement regarding
compensation, benefits, or options or equity grants (including, but not limited
to the TriMas Executive Severance / Change of Control Policy) 

 

3

 

(ii) claims arising under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964 or state civil rights statutes, the Age Discrimination in Employment
Act (“ADEA”), the Older Worker Benefit Protection Act (“OWBPA”), the Americans
with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor
Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, or the Employee Retirement
Income Security Act, (iii) claims for breach of express or implied
contract, breach of promise, promissory estoppel, loss of income, back pay,
reinstatement, front pay, impairment of earning capacity, wrongful termination,
defamation, libel, slander, discrimination, damage to reputation, fraud,
violation of public policy, retaliation, negligent or intentional infliction of
mental or emotional distress, intentional tort or any other federal, state or
local common law or statutory claims, and all other claims and rights, whether
in law or equity.  It is the intention of
the parties that this paragraph will be construed as broadly as possible;
however, this paragraph does not include claims arising under state workers’
compensation laws and state unemployment laws. 
This paragraph also does not affect your right to file a charge or
otherwise participate in an EEOC proceeding insofar as it is required by
current EEOC regulations.  You understand
that TriMas will assert this Agreement as an affirmative defense against any
claim asserted by you in any forum.

 

(b)           TriMas acknowledges that, as of the date of this
Agreement, it does not have actual knowledge of any claims, liabilities,
demands, and causes of action against you, whether fixed or contingent and
known or unknown, arising from your employment, or any condition or benefit
related to your employment or as a result of your separation from employment.
This acknowledgment does not in any way prevent TriMas  from asserting a claim based on the foregoing
to the extent TriMas subsequently becomes aware of any such claim, liability,
demand or cause of action.

 

(c)           In signing this Agreement, you agree to waive any rights
you might have to pursue any claims against the Released Parties through any
alternative dispute resolution process, or through any court or administrative
agency, to the extent permitted by law, and further agree not to bring any suit
or action in any court or administrative agency, to the extent permitted by
law, against any of the Released Parties, arising out of or relating to the
subject matter of this Agreement.

 

(d)           You
acknowledge that this Agreement provides additional and sufficient
consideration for the release contained herein. You also acknowledge that the Benefits
are not otherwise owed to you under any agreement, policy or practice.

 

(e)           Nothing
in this Agreement releases or limits your rights and remedies under the
Indemnification Agreement dated as of November 1, 2006 between you and
TriMas.

 

9.             References.  If you seek a reference for
employment purposes, you agree to direct inquiries to TriMas’ Human Resources
Department.  References to be provided by
TriMas regarding you shall be limited to dates of employment, positions held
and compensation.  Those making such
inquiries will be advised that it is the general policy of TriMas to provide
only such neutral references in response to employment inquiries.

 

10.           Consideration Time and Revocation Period.

 

(a)           You
acknowledge you have sufficient time, totaling twenty-one (21) days from
receipt of this Agreement on April 10, 2008, to determine if you wish to
accept the terms.  In the event you sign
and return this Agreement before that time, you certify, by such execution,
that 

 

4

 

you knowingly and voluntarily waive the right to the full time period,
for reasons personal to you, with no pressure by TriMas to do so.  TriMas has made no promises, inducements or
threats to cause you to sign this Agreement before the end of the twenty-one
(21) day period.

 

(b)         You understand that you may revoke this
Agreement for a period of seven (7) calendar days following your execution
of the Agreement.  You understand that
any revocation, in order to be effective, must be:  (1) in writing and either postmarked
within seven (7) days of your execution of the Agreement and addressed to General
Counsel, TriMas Corporation, 39400
Woodward, Suite 130, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 or (2) hand-delivered
within seven (7) days of your execution of the Agreement to TriMas’ General Counsel at the
address listed above.  If revocation is
by mail, certified mail, return receipt requested is required to show proof of
mailing.

 

(c)          No payments or benefits under this Agreement shall be made
to you until after the seven (7) day revocation period has expired.  If you do not revoke this Agreement within
the seven (7) day revocation period, then this Agreement shall become
fully and finally effective and the payments and benefits provided hereunder
will be made to you in accordance with this Agreement.

 

11.           Complete Agreement.  In
executing this Agreement, you are doing so knowingly and voluntarily and agree
that you have not relied upon any oral statements by TriMas or its
representatives, and that this Agreement, when signed by both parties,
supersedes any and all prior written agreements between the parties regarding
the terms of your employment or the termination of such employment.  Any modification of this Agreement must be
made in writing and signed by you and an authorized representative of TriMas
and must specifically refer to and expressly modify this Agreement.

 

12.           Severability. 
Should any provision of this Agreement be declared or determined by any
court to be illegal or invalid, the remaining parts, terms or provisions shall
not be affected thereby, and said illegal or invalid part, term or provision
shall be deemed not to be a part of this Agreement; provided that such court
may, in lieu of finding any provision hereof to be unenforceable, illegal or
invalid, modify any such provision to preserve to the greatest extent possible
the intended effect of such provision while otherwise rendering it legal and
enforceable.

 

13.           Choice of Law.  This Agreement shall be deemed to be made and
entered into in the State of Michigan and shall in all respects be interpreted,
enforced and governed under the laws of the State of Michigan, except if
applicable federal law provides differently.

 

14.           Attorney.  You acknowledge that you have had the
opportunity to review this Agreement with an attorney of your choosing and at
your cost, and have been encouraged and given ample time to consult with your
own legal counsel prior to executing this Agreement.

 

15.           Deadline
for Acceptance. You must accept this Agreement, by signing it within twenty-one (21) days after original delivery to you, or the offer contained in this
Agreement will be withdrawn.

 

16.           Consequences
of Violation of Promise. If you break the promise in paragraph 7 of this
Agreement and file a lawsuit based on legal or equitable claims that you have
released, it is expressly understood and agreed that the release and discharge
is a complete defense to the 

 

5

 

lawsuit. If litigation is brought to enforce the
terms of this Agreement, the prevailing party shall be entitled to reasonable legal
fees and costs incurred in the litigation.

 

17.                              Additional 409A Matters.

 

(a)                                       If you are is a “specified employee” (as
defined under Treasury Regulations Section 1.409A-1(i)) of TriMas as of
the date of your separation from service, then TriMas will pay to you on the
date that is six (6) months and one (1) day after the Termination
Date that portion of any amount payable under this Agreement  that
constitutes deferred compensation subject to Section 409A of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), and that is otherwise payable to
you prior to that six (6) month date.

 

(b)                                      TriMas will timely
amend your awards under the 2002 and 2006 Long Term Equity Incentive Plan and
your 2007 Award to the extent necessary for compliance with the applicable
provisions of Code Section 409A and the Treasury regulations and other guidance
issued thereunder, so that you will not be subject to any additional income tax
or penalty or interest amount imposed by Code Section 409A, and TriMas and
you will provide each other with appropriate liaison regarding same.

 

 

	
   

  	
   

  	
  TriMas Corporation

  
	
  /s/ E. R. Autry

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  E.R. “Skip” Autry

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Date: April 10, 2008

  	
   

  	
  By:

  	
  /s/ Joshua Sherbin

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Name:

  	
  Joshua Sherbin

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Title:

  	
  General Counsel and Secretary

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
  Date:
  April 10, 2008

  

 

6

 

Attachment A

 

By my signature below, I, E.R. “Skip” Autry
(hereinafter “Executive”), accept the following covenants, in exchange for
consideration provided under the revised Agreement with TriMas Corporation (“Company”),
which Agreement incorporates these covenants.

 

(a)           Executive acknowledges and recognizes
the highly competitive nature of the business of Company and accordingly agrees
that for the twelve (12) month period following the Termination Date, as
defined in the Agreement, Executive shall not engage, either directly or
indirectly, as a principal for Executive’s own account or jointly with others,
or as a stockholder in any corporation or joint stock association, or as a
partner or member of a general or limited liability entity, or as an employee,
officer, director, agent, consultant or in any other advisory capacity in any
business which designs, develops, manufacturers, distributes, sells or markets
the type of products or services sold, distributed or provided by TriMas
Corporation during the twelve (12) month period prior to the Termination Date (“the
Business”); provided that nothing herein shall prevent Executive from owning,
directly or indirectly, not more than five percent (5%) of the outstanding
shares of, or any other equity interest in, any entity engaged in the Business
and listed or traded on a national securities exchanges or in an
over-the-counter securities market.

 

(b)           It is expressly understood and agreed
that although Executive and Company consider the restrictions contained in this
Attachment A to be reasonable, if a final judicial determination is made by a
court of competent jurisdiction that the time or territory or any other
restriction contained in this Agreement is an unenforceable restriction against
Executive, the provisions of this Attachment A shall not be rendered void but
shall be deemed amended to apply as to such maximum time and territory and to
such maximum extent as such court may judicially determine or indicate to be
enforceable.  Alternatively, if any
tribunal of competent jurisdiction finds that any restriction contained in this
Agreement is unenforceable, and such restriction cannot be amended so as to
make it enforceable, such finding shall not affect the enforceability of any of
the other restrictions contained herein.

 

(c)           Executive acknowledges and agrees
that Company’s remedies at law for a breach or threatened breach of any of the
provisions of this Attachment A would be inadequate and, in recognition of
this fact, Executive agrees that, in the event of such a breach or threatened
breach, in addition to any remedies at law, Executive shall forfeit all
payments otherwise due under the letter agreement or any consulting agreement
between executive and the company and shall return any payments made under the
letter agreement and consulting agreement. 
Moreover, Company, without posting any bond, shall be entitled to seek
equitable relief in the form of specific performance, temporary restraining
order, temporary or permanent injunction or any other equitable remedy which
may then be available.

 

 

	
   

  	
  /s/
  E. R. Autry

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  E.R.
  “Skip” Autry

  

 

7

 

Attachment B

 

I,
E.R. “Skip” Autry, hereby resign with effect from April 11, 2008 from all
officer and/or director positions of TriMas Corporation and its affiliates and
subsidiaries, including all foreign entities.

 

	
   

  	
  /s/
  E. R. Autry

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
  E.R.
  “Skip” Autry

  

 

8Exhibit 10.1

 

2008
Equity Incentive Program

 

	
  Executive Officer

  	
   

  	
  Nonqualified Stock Option Award

  	
   

  
	
  Caren L. Mason 

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  President and
  Chief Executive Officer

  	
   

  	
  97,085

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Thomas J. Foley 

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Chief Technology
  Officer

  	
   

  	
  28,908

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Scot M. McLeod 

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Senior Vice
  President, Operations

  	
   

  	
  33,275

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  John M. Radak 

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Chief Financial
  Officer

  	
   

  	
  53,950

  	
   

  
	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Richard
  Tarbox, III

  	
   

  	
   

  	
   

  
	
  Senior Vice
  President, Corporate Development Officer

  	
   

  	
  46,407

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