FTD COM INC
10-K, EX-10.14, 2000-08-24
BUSINESS SERVICES, NEC
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<PAGE>

Exhibit 10.14



                                                   May 17, 2000



Mr. William J. Van Cleave
FTD.COM INC.
3113 Woodcreek Drive
Downers Grove, Illinois  60515

Dear Bill:

     This letter agreement (this "Agreement") sets forth the terms of your
employment with FTD.COM INC. ("FTD.COM").

     DUTIES. You shall serve as an officer of FTD.COM or in a substantially
similar position with any entity that acquires FTD.COM or all or substantially
all of FTD.COM's assets (other than Florists' Transworld Delivery, Inc. or IOS
BRANDS Corporation or any of their other direct or indirect subsidiaries)
through May 17, 2002 and shall perform the duties assigned by FTD.COM from time
to time. You shall devote your entire business time to the affairs of FTD.COM,
to the performance of your duties under this Agreement and to the promotion of
FTD.COM's interests.

     COMPENSATION. As full compensation for the performance by you of your
duties under this Agreement, FTD.COM shall compensate you as follows:

     (a) SALARY. During the term of this Agreement, FTD.COM shall pay to you a
salary of $150,000 per year, payable in the periodic installments ordinarily
paid by FTD.COM to employees of FTD.COM at comparable levels to you. You shall
be entitled to such merit increases in base salary as the Board of Directors may
determine, in its discretion.

     (b) PERFORMANCE BONUS. You shall be entitled to participate in a
performance bonus as set by the Board of Directors based upon performance
criteria to be set by the Board. If your employment with FTD.COM is terminated
for any reason other than "cause" (as defined below under "Severance") following
a Change in Control (as defined in FTD.COM's 1999 Equity Incentive Plan), you
shall be entitled to received a pro rata bonus for the applicable fiscal year if
you are entitled to one based upon the performance criteria set by the Board.

     (c) RESTRICTED STOCK AWARD. You have been awarded FTD.COM stock pursuant to
a restricted share agreement in the form of EXHIBIT A.

<PAGE>

Mr. William J. Van Cleave
May 17, 2000
Page 2

     (d) PAID VACATION. You shall be entitled to four weeks of paid vacation per
year in accordance with FTD.COM's policies with respect to vacations then in
effect.

     (e) BENEFITS. You shall be entitled to the additional employment-related
benefits that are made available from time to time to employees of FTD.COM at
comparable levels to you.

     (f) EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT. FTD.COM shall reimburse you, in accordance with
the practice from time to time in effect for other employees of FTD.COM, for all
reasonable and necessary travel expenses and other disbursements incurred by
you, for or on behalf of FTD.COM, in the performance of your duties under this
Agreement.

     SEVERANCE. FTD.COM shall have the right to terminate your employment by
giving you written notice of the effective date of the termination. If your
employment is terminated without "cause" by FTD.COM, FTD.COM will pay you
continued salary for one year from the effective date of any such termination of
employment and any pro rata bonus to which you may be entitled pursuant to this
Agreement. FTD.COM's severance obligations are subject to your best efforts to
mitigate. FTD.COM shall have no further obligation hereunder.

     For purposes of this Agreement, "cause" means any of the following events
that FTD.COM or the FTD.COM Board of Directors has determined, in good faith,
has occurred: (i) your continual or deliberate neglect of the performance of
your material duties; (ii) your failure to devote substantially all of your
working time to the business of FTD.COM and its subsidiaries or affiliated
companies; (iii) your engaging willfully in misconduct in connection with the
performance of any of your duties, including, without limitation, the
misappropriation of funds or securing or attempting to secure personally any
profit in connection with any transaction entered into on behalf of FTD.COM or
its subsidiaries or affiliated companies; (iv) your willful breach of any
confidentiality or nondisclosure agreements with FTD.COM (including this
Agreement) or your violation, in any material respect, of any code or standard
of behavior generally applicable to employees or executive employees of FTD.COM;
(v) your active disloyalty to FTD.COM, including, without limitation, willfully
aiding a competitor or improperly disclosing confidential information; or (vi)
your engaging in conduct that may reasonably result in material injury to the
reputation of FTD.COM, including conviction or entry of a plea of nolo contendre
for a felony or any crime involving fraud under Federal, state or local laws,
embezzlement, bankruptcy, insolvency or general assignment for the benefit of
creditors.

     CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION AND NON-COMPETITION. You agree to enter into a
separate agreement with FTD.COM (attached hereto as EXHIBIT B) that provides for
(i) non-disclosure of confidential information, (ii) non-competition and (iii)
non-solicitation of customers, suppliers and employees. This Agreement shall not
be effective until you have executed and delivered such agreement to the
Company.

<PAGE>

Mr. William J. Van Cleave
May 17, 2000
Page 3

     LIMITATION ON PAYMENTS AND BENEFITS. Notwithstanding any other provision of
this Agreement to the contrary, in the event that it shall be determined (as
hereafter provided) that any payment or distribution by FTD.COM or any of its
affiliates to you or for your benefit, whether paid or payable or distributed or
distributable pursuant to the terms of this Agreement or otherwise pursuant to
or by reason of any other agreement, policy, plan, program or arrangement,
including without limitation any stock option, performance share, performance
unit, stock appreciation right or similar right, or the lapse or termination of
any restriction on or the vesting or exercisability of any of the foregoing,
would be subject to the excise tax imposed by Section 4999 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") (or any successor provision
thereto), by reason of being considered "contingent on a change in ownership or
control" of FTD.COM within the meaning of Section 280G of the Code (or any
successor provision thereto), or to any similar tax imposed by state or local
law, or any interest or penalties with respect to such taxes, then such payments
and benefits to be paid or provided shall be reduced to an amount (but not below
zero) that would result in the maximum possible net after tax receipts to you
from all such payments or distributions (determined by reference to the present
value determined in accordance with Section 280G(d)(4) of the Code (or any
successor provision thereto) of all such payments net of all such taxes, or any
interest or penalties with respect to such taxes, determined by applying the
highest marginal rate under Section 1 of the Code (or any successor provision
thereto) that applied to your taxable income for the immediately preceding
taxable year) (the "Reduced Amount"). The fact that your payments or benefits
may be reduced by reason of the limitations contained in this paragraph will not
of itself limit or otherwise affect any of your other rights other than pursuant
to this Agreement. If it is determined that you should receive a Reduced Amount,
FTD.COM will provide you notice to that effect and a copy of the detailed
calculation thereof. You will then be entitled to designate the payments or
benefits to be so reduced in order to give effect to this paragraph. In the
event that you fail to make such designation within ten business days of
notification of the reduction in payments or benefits is required pursuant to
this paragraph, FTD.COM may effect such reduction in any manner it deems
appropriate.

     MISCELLANEOUS. This Agreement shall be governed by the internal laws of the
State of Illinois, excluding the conflicts-of-law principles thereof. You and
FTD.COM consent to jurisdiction and venue in any federal or state court in the
City of Chicago. This Agreement and the accompanying EXHIBITS A and B state our
entire agreement and understanding regarding your employment with FTD.COM. This
agreement may be amended only by a written document signed by both you and
FTD.COM. No delay or failure to exercise any right under this Agreement waives
such rights under the Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement is partially
or completely invalid or unenforceable, then that provision shall only be
ineffective to such extent of its invalidity or unenforceability, and the
validity or enforceability of any other provision of this Agreement shall not be
affected. Any controversy relating to this Agreement shall be settled by
arbitration in Chicago, Illinois in accordance with the Commercial Arbitration
Rules of the American Arbitration Association, except as otherwise provided in
the

<PAGE>

Mr. William J. Van Cleave
May 17, 2000
Page 4

Confidentiality and Non-Competition agreement attached hereto as EXHIBIT B.
In the event of any inconsistency between this Agreement and any personnel
policy or manual of FTD.COM with respect to any matter, this Agreement shall
govern the matter.


                                            Sincerely,

                                            /s/ RICHARD PERRY

                                            Richard Perry
                                            Chairman of the Board

Accepted as of this
      17th day of May, 2000


/s/ WILLIAM J. VAN CLEAVE
--------------------------
William J. Van Cleave




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