Amended Change in Control Severance Agreement, by and between the Bank and Randy J.Sizemore, dated January 10, 2005

EX-10.2 3 exhibit10-2.htm

AMENDED CHANGE IN CONTROL SEVERANCE AGREEMENT

        THIS Change in Control (“Agreement”) supercedes all prior similar agreements and is made and entered into as of this 10th day of January, 2005 by and between First Federal Savings Bank (hereinafter referred to as the “Bank” whether in mutual or stock form) and Randy J. Sizemore (the “Employee”).

        WHEREAS, the Employee is currently serving as the Chief Financial Officer of the Bank; and

        WHEREAS, the board of directors of the Bank (“Board of Directors”) recognizes that, as is the case with publicly held corporations generally, the possibility of a change in control of Northeast Indiana Bancorp, Inc., the holding company of the Bank (the “Holding Company”) and/or the Bank may exist and that such possibility, and the uncertainty and questions which it may raise among management, may result in the departure or distraction of key management personnel to the detriment of the Bank, the Holding Company and their respective stockholders; and

        WHEREAS, the Board of Directors believes it is in the best interests of the Bank to enter into this Agreement with the Employee in order to assure continuity of management of the Bank and to reinforce and encourage the continued attention and dedication of the Employee to his assigned duties without distraction in the face of potentially disruptive circumstances arising from the possibility of a change in control of the Holding Company or the Bank, although no such change is now contemplated; and

        WHEREAS, the Board of Directors has approved and authorized the execution of this Agreement with the Employee to take effect as stated in Section 2 hereof;

        NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and of the respective covenants and agreements of the parties herein, it is AGREED as follows:

1. Definitions.

    (a)        The term “Change in Control” means (1) an event of a nature that (i) results in a change in control of the Bank or the Holding Company within the meaning of the Home Owners’ Loan Act of 1933 and 12 C.F.R. Part 574 as in effect on the date hereof; or (ii) would be required to be reported in response to Item 5.01 of the current report on Form 8-K, as in effect on the date hereof, pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”); (2) any person (as the term is used in Sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act) is or becomes the beneficial owner (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act), directly or indirectly of securities of the Bank or the Holding Company representing 20% or more of the Bank’s or the Holding Company’s outstanding securities; (3) individuals who are members of the board of directors of the Bank or the Holding Company on the date hereof (the “Incumbent Board”) cease for any reason to constitute at least a majority thereof, provided that any person becoming a director subsequent to the date hereof whose election was approved by a vote of at least three-


quarters of the directors comprising the Incumbent Board, or whose nomination for election by the Holding Company’s stockholders was approved by the nominating committee serving under an Incumbent Board, shall be considered a member of the Incumbent Board; or (4) a plan of reorganization, merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of the assets of the Bank or the Holding Company or a similar transaction in which the Bank or the Holding Company is not the resulting entity. The term “change in control” shall not include an acquisition of securities by an employee benefit plan of the Bank or the Holding Company or the acquisition of securities of the Bank by the Holding Company. In the application of 12 C.F.R. Part 574 to a determination of a Change in Control, determinations to be made by the OTS or its Director under such regulations shall be made by the Board of Directors.

    (b)        The term “Commencement Date” means January 1, 2005.

    (c)        The term “Date of Termination” means the date upon which the Employee ceases to serve as an Employee of the Bank.

    (d)        The term “Involuntarily Termination” means termination of the employment of Employee without his express written consent, and shall include a material diminution of or interference with the Employee’s duties, responsibilities and benefits as Chief Financial Officer of the Bank, including (without limitation) any of the following actions unless consented to in writing by the Employee: (1) a change in the principal workplace of the Employee to a location outside of a 35 mile radius from the Bank’s headquarters office as of the date hereof, (2) a material demotion of the Employee; (3) a material reduction in the number or seniority of other Bank personnel reporting to the Employee or a material reduction in the frequency with which, or in the nature of the matters with respect to which, such personnel are to report to the Employee, other than as part of a Bank- or Holding Company-wide reduction in staff, (4) a material adverse change in the Employee’s salary, perquisites, benefits, contingent benefits or vacation, other than as part of an overall program applied uniformly and with equitable effect to all members of the senior management of the Bank or the Holding Company; and (5) a material permanent increase in the required hours of work or the workload of the Employee. The term “Involuntary Termination” does not include Termination for Cause or termination of employment due to retirement, death, disability or suspension or temporary or permanent prohibition from participation in the conduct of the Bank’s affairs under Section 8 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (“FDIA”).

    (e)        The terms “Termination for Cause” and “Terminated For Cause” mean termination of the employment of the Employee because of the Employee’s personal dishonesty, incompetence, willful misconduct, breach of a fiduciary duty involving personal profit, intentional failure to perform stated duties, willful violation of any law, rule, or regulation (other than traffic violations or similar offenses) or final cease-and-desist order, or material breach of any provision of this Agreement. The Employee shall not be deemed to have been Terminated for Cause unless and until there shall have been delivered to the Employee a copy of a resolution, duly adopted by the affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the entire membership of the Board of Directors of the Bank at a meeting of the Board called and held for such purpose (after reasonable notice to the Employee and an opportunity for the Employee, together with the Employee’s counsel, to be heard before the Board), stating that in the good faith opinion of the Board the Employee has engaged in conduct described in the preceding sentence and specifying the particulars thereof in detail.


2.     Term. The term of this Agreement shall be a period of one-year commencing on the Commencement Date, subject to earlier termination as provided herein, except that the initial term of this agreement shall commence on January 10, 2005 and end at the close of business on December 31, 2005. Beginning on the first anniversary of the Commencement Date, as defined above,, and on each anniversary thereafter, the term of this Agreement shall be extended for a period of one year, provided that (1) the Bank has not given notice to the Employee in writing at least 90 days prior to such anniversary that the term of this Agreement shall not be extended further; and (2) prior to such anniversary, the Board of Directors of the Bank explicitly reviews and approves the extension. Reference herein to the term of this Agreement shall refer to both such initial term and such extended terms.

3.     Change In Control Severance Benefits. In the event of Involuntary Termination in connection with or within 12 months after a Change in Control which occurs at any time during the term of this Agreement, the Bank shall, subject to Section 4 of this Agreement, (1) pay to the Employee in a lump sum in cash within 25 business days after the Date of Termination an amount equal to 299% of the Employee’s “base amount” as defined in Section 28OG of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”); and (2) provide to the Employee during the period of one year following the Date of Termination such health benefits as are maintained for its Executive officers of the Bank from time to time during the remaining term of this Agreement or substantially the same health benefits as the Bank maintained for its Executive officers immediately prior to the Change in Control.

4.     Regulatory Provisions. Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Agreement:

    (a)        If the Employee is suspended and/or temporarily prohibited from participating in the conduct of the Bank’s affairs by a notice served under Section 8(e)(4) or (g)(1) of the FDIA, 12 U.S.C. § 1818(e)(4) and (g)(1), the Bank’s obligations under this Agreement shall be suspended as of the date of service, unless stayed by appropriate proceedings. If the charges in the notice are dismissed, the Bank may in its discretion (i) pay, the Employee all or part of the compensation withheld while its obligations under this Agreement were suspended and (ii) reinstate in whole or in part any of its obligations which were suspended.

    (b)        If the Employee is removed and/or permanently prohibited from participating in the conduct of the Bank’s affairs by an order issued under Section 8(e)(4) or (g)(1) of the FDIA, 12 U.S.C. § 1818(e)(4) and (g)(1), all obligations of the Bank under this Agreement shall terminate as of the effective date of the order, but vested rights of the contracting parties shall not be affected.

    (c)        If the Bank is in default (as defined in Section 3(x)(l) of the FDIA), all obligations under this Agreement shall terminate as of the date of default, but this provision shall not affect any vested rights of the contracting parties.

    (d)        All obligations under this Agreement shall be terminated, except to the extent determined that continuation of this Agreement is necessary for the continued operation of the Bank: (i) by the Director of the Office of Thrift Supervision (the “Director”) or his or her


designee, at the time the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Resolution Trust Corporation enters into an agreement to provide assistance to or on behalf of the Bank under the authority contained in Section 13(c) of the FDIA; or (ii) by the Director or his or her designee, at the time the Director or his or her designee approves a supervisory merger to resolve problems related to operation of the Bank or when the Bank is determined by the Director to be in an unsafe or unsound condition. Any rights of the parties that have already vested, however, shall not be affected by any such action.

5.     Certain Reduction of Payments by the Bank.

    (a)        Notwithstanding any other provision of this Agreement, if payments under this Agreement, together with any other payments received or to be received by the Employee in connection with a Change in Control would cause any amount to be nondeductible by the Bank or the Holding Company for federal income tax purposes pursuant to Section 280G of the Code, then benefits under this Agreement shall be reduced (not less than zero) to the extent necessary so as to maximize payments to the Employee without causing any amount to become nondeductible by the Bank or the Holding Company. The Employee shall determine the allocation of such reduction among payments to the Employee.

    (b)        Any payments made to the Employee pursuant to this Agreement, or otherwise, are subject to and conditioned upon their compliance with 12 U.S.C. 1828(k) and any regulations promulgated thereunder

6.     No Mitigation The Employee shall not be required to mitigate the amount of any payment or benefit provided for in this Agreement by seeking other employment or otherwise, nor shall the amount of any payment or benefit provided for in this Agreement be reduced by any compensation earned by the Employee as the result of employment by another employer, by retirement benefits after the Date of Termination or otherwise.

7.     Attorneys Fees. In the event the Bank exercises its right of Termination for Cause, but it is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction or by an arbitrator pursuant to Section 14 that cause did not exist for such termination, or if in any event it is determined by any such court or arbitrator that the Bank has failed to make timely payment of any amounts owed to the Employee under this Agreement, the Employee shall be entitled to reimbursement for all reasonable costs, including attorneys’ fees, incurred in challenging such termination or collecting such amounts. Such reimbursement shall be in addition to all rights to which the Employee is otherwise entitled under this Agreement.

8.     No Assignments

    (a)        This Agreement is personal to each of the parties hereto, and neither party may assign or delegate any of its rights or obligations hereunder without first obtaining the written consent of the other party; provided, however, that the Bank shall require any successor or assign (whether direct or indirect, by purchase, merger, consolidation or otherwise) to all or substantially all of the business and/or assets of the Bank, by an assumption agreement in form


and substance satisfactory to the Employee, to expressly assume and agree to perform this Agreement in the same manner and to the same extent that the Bank would be required to perform it if no such succession

or assignment had taken place. Failure of the Bank to obtain such an assumption agreement prior to the effectiveness of any such succession or assignment shall be a breach of this Agreement and shall entitle the Employee to compensation from the Bank in the same amount and on the same terms as the compensation pursuant to Section 3 hereof. For purposes of implementing the provisions of this Section 8(a), the date on which any such succession becomes effective shall be deemed the Date of Termination.

    (b)        This Agreement and all rights of the Employee hereunder shall inure to the benefit of and be enforceable by the Employee’s personal and legal representatives, executors, administrators, successors, heirs, distributees, devisees and legatees. If the Employee should die while any amounts would still be payable to the Employee hereunder if the Employee had continued to live, all such amounts, unless otherwise provided herein, shall be paid in accordance with the terms of this Agreement to the Employee’s devisee, legatee or other designee or if there is no such designee, to the Employee’s estate.

9.     Notice. For the purposes of this Agreement, notices and all other communications provided for in the Agreement shall be in writing and shall be deemed to have been duly given when personally delivered or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, to the Bank at its home office, to the attention of the Board of Directors with a copy to the Secretary of the Bank, or, if to the Employee, to such home or other address as the Employee has most recently provided in writing to the Bank.

10.     Amendments. No amendments or additions to this Agreement shall be binding unless in writing and signed by both parties, except as herein otherwise provided.

11.     Headings. The headings used in this Agreement are included solely for convenience and shall not affect, or are used in connection with, the interpretation of this Agreement.

12.     Severability. The provisions of this Agreement shall be deemed severable and the invalidity or unenforceability of any provision shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the other provisions hereof.

13.     Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the United States to the extent applicable and otherwise by the laws of the State of Indiana.

14.     Arbitration. Any dispute or controversy arising under or in connection with this Agreement shall be settled exclusively by arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association then in effect. Judgment may be entered on the arbitrator’s award in any court having jurisdiction.


        IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the day and year first above written.

        THIS AGREEMENT CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION PROVISION WHICH MAY BE ENFORCED BY THE PARTIES.

FIRST FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK

By: ___________________________

Its: ___________________________


Employee:
______________________________