SOUND FINANCIAL BANCORP, INC.
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
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Maryland
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001-35633
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45-5188530
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(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)
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(Commission File No.)
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(IRS Employer Identification No.)
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2400 3rd Avenue, Suite 150, Seattle, Washington
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98121
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(Address of principal executive offices)
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(Zip Code)
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Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (206) 448-0884
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Not Applicable
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
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☐
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Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)
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Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))
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Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))
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Title of each class
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Trading Symbol(s)
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Name of each exchange on which registered
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Common Stock, $0.01 par value
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SFBC
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The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC
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Item 5.02
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Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
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(d)
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Exhibits
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SOUND FINANCIAL BANCORP, INC.
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Date: December 13, 2019
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By:
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/s/ Laura Lee Stewart
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Laura Lee Stewart, President and CEO
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a.
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Affiliate shall mean the Company and any entity that directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with the Company.
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b.
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Cause shall mean and be limited to: (i) willful and gross neglect of duties by the Employee, (ii) an act or acts committed by the Employee constituting a felony and substantially detrimental to the Company or its reputation, (iii) any action or inaction detrimental to the Company or its reputation that results in regulatory enforcement action, whether or not such enforcement action is subject to direct enforcement under 12 U.S.C § 1818(i)(l), by any regulatory authorities having authority over the Company, (iv) any regulatory or other finding, action or directive requiring Employee’s termination of employment pursuant to any applicable statue, rule or regulation; and/or (v) any violation of Employee’s
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c.
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Change in Control shall mean a change in the ownership or effective control of the Company, or in the ownership of a substantial portion of the assets of the Company, as such change is defined under the default definition in Treasury Regulation §1.409A-3(i)(5) or any subsequently applicable Treasury Regulation.
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d.
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Code shall mean the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or any successor statute, rule or regulation of similar effect.
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e.
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Customer shall mean any individual, joint venturer, entity of any sort, or other business partner of the Company or its Affiliates with, for, or to whom the Company or its Affiliates have provided financial products or services during the final two years of the Employee’s employment with the Company, or any individual, joint venturer, entity of any sort, or business partner whom the Company or any of its Affiliates has identified as a prospective customer of financial products or services within the final year of the Employee’s employment with the Company or any of its Affiliates.
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f.
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Disability or Disabled means the Employee: (i) is unable to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months or (ii) by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which can be expected to result in death or can be expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 months, is receiving income replacement benefits for a period of not less than three (3) months under a disability plan covering employees of the Company.
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g.
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Financial products or services shall mean any product or service that a financial institution or a financial holding company could offer by engaging in any activity that is financial in nature or incidental to such a financial activity under Section 4(k) of the Bank Holding Company Act of 1956 and that is offered by the Company or an Affiliate on the date of the Employee’s Separation from Service, including but not limited to banking activities and activities that are closely related and a proper incident to banking, or other products or services of the type in which the Employee was involved during the Employee’s employment with the Company.
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h.
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Good Reason shall mean and be limited to: (i) without the Employee’s express written consent, a material diminution in authority, duties or responsibilities, except as required by any regulatory or other finding, action or directive pursuant to any applicable statute, rule or regulation; (ii) any material reduction by the Company in the Employee’s Base Salary; (iii) any failure of the Company to obtain the assumption of, or the agreement to perform, this Agreement by any successor as contemplated in paragraph 15 hereof; (iv) the Company’s material breach of this Agreement; or (v) the Company requiring the Employee to be permanently assigned to a location more than 35 miles from Employee’s current work location, except for required travel on Company business, or, in the event the Employee consents to any relocation, and such relocation is more than 35 miles from the Employee’s previous location, the failure by the Company to pay (or reimburse the Employee) for all reasonable moving expenses incurred by the Employee relating to a change of the Employee’s principal residence in connection with such relocation and to
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i.
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Specified Employee means an employee who at the time of termination of employment is a key employee of the Company, if any stock of Sound Financial is publicly traded on an established securities market or otherwise. For purposes of this Agreement, an employee is a key employee if the employee meets the requirements of Code Section 416(i)(1)(A)(i), (ii) or (iii) (applied in accordance with the regulations thereunder and disregarding Section 416(i)(5)) at any time during the 12-month period ending on December 31 (the “identification period”). If the employee is a key employee during an identification period, the employee is treated as a key employee for purposes of this Agreement during the twelve (12) month period that begins on the first day of January following the close of the identification period.
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j.
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Sound Financial shall mean Sound Financial Bancorp, Inc., the parent holding company of the Company.
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k.
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Voluntary Termination shall mean the termination by Employee of Employee’s employment, which is not the result of Good Reason.
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l.
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By way of clarification, when used in this Agreement, the terms "Separation from Service," "separation from service," "termination of employment," "terminates employment" and similar phrases in each case shall mean a "Separation from Service" as defined in Treasury Regulation §1.409A-l(h), taking into account all of the facts and circumstances, special rules and presumptions set forth in such regulation.
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a.
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Exceptions. The foregoing obligations of confidentiality shall not apply to any knowledge or information that: (i) is now or subsequently becomes generally publicly known, other than as a direct or indirect result of the breach of this Agreement; (ii) is independently made available to the Employee in good faith by a third party who has not violated a confidential relationship with the Company or its Affiliates or any other entity; or (iii) is required to be disclosed by law or legal process. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the parties hereto agree that nothing contained in this Agreement limits the Employee’s ability to report information to or file a charge or complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or any other federal, state or local governmental agency or commission that has jurisdiction over the Company or any Affiliate (the “Government Agencies”). The Employee further understands that this Agreement does not limit his ability to communicate with any Government Agencies or otherwise participate in any investigation or proceeding that may be conducted by any Government Agency, including providing documents or other information, without notice to the Company and/or any Affiliate. This Agreement does not limit the Employee’s right to receive an award for information provided to any Government Agencies. In addition, pursuant to the Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, the Employee understands that an individual may not be held criminally or civilly liable under any federal or state trade secret law for the disclosure of a trade secret that (i) is made (A) in confidence to a federal, state or local government official, either directly or indirectly, or to an attorney; and (B) solely for the purpose of reporting or investigating a suspected violation of law; or (ii) is made in a complaint or other document that is filed under seal in a lawsuit or other proceeding. Further, an individual who files a lawsuit for retaliation by an employer for reporting a suspected violation of law may disclose the employer's trade secrets to the attorney and use the trade secret information in the court proceeding if the individual (y) files any document containing the trade secret under seal; and (z) does not disclose the trade secret, except pursuant to court order.
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a.
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Non-Competition Obligations. For and in consideration of the payments described in paragraph 5, the Employee shall not, during the Restricted Period, either separately, jointly or in association with others, directly or indirectly, as an agent, employee, owner, partner, stockholder or otherwise, compete with the Company or any of its Affiliates, or establish, engage in, or become interested in any business, trade or occupation that competes with the Company or any of its Affiliates, in the financial products or services industry (a “Competing Entity”), if such Competing Entity has an office in (i) any county in which the Company or any Affiliate has an office or (ii) any county adjacent to any of the counties covered by clause (i). The Company and the Employee acknowledge that, during the term of the Employee’s employment, the Employee has acquired special and confidential knowledge regarding the operations of the Company and its Affiliates. Furthermore, although not a term or condition of this Agreement, the Company and the Employee
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b.
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Non-Solicitation Obligations. For and in consideration of the payments described in paragraph 5, the Employee shall not, during the Restricted Period: (a) directly or indirectly solicit or attempt to solicit any customer of the Company or any of its Affiliates to accept or purchase financial products or services of the same nature, kind or variety currently being provided to the customer by the Company or any of its Affiliates, or being provided to the customer by the Company or any of its Affiliates when the Employee’s Separation from Service occurs; (b) directly or indirectly influence or attempt to influence any customer, joint venturer or other business partner of the Company or any of its Affiliates to alter that person or entity’s business relationship with the Company or any of its Affiliates in any way; and/or (c) accept the financial products or services business of any customer or provide financial products or services to any customer on behalf of anyone other than the Company or its Affiliates. In addition, the Employee shall not solicit or attempt to solicit and shall not encourage or induce in any way any employee, joint venturer or business partner of the Company or any of its Affiliates to terminate an employment or contractual relationship with the Company or any of its Affiliates, and shall not hire any person employed by the Company or any of its Affiliates during the two (2)-year period immediately before the Employee’s employment termination or any person employed by the Company or any of its Affiliates during the term of this covenant.
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c.
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Duration; no impact on existing obligations under law or contract. The covenants in this paragraph 4 shall apply throughout the Restricted Period. The Restricted Period referenced herein shall be tolled and shall not run during any period of time the Employee is in breach of this Agreement and/or in violation of any of the covenants contained herein, and once tolled hereunder shall not begin to run again until such time as all such breach and/or violations have ceased. The Employee acknowledges and agrees that nothing in this Agreement is intended to or shall have any impact on the Employee’s obligations as an officer or employee of the Company to refrain from competing against the Company or any of its Affiliates, soliciting customers, officers or employees of the Company or any of its Affiliates, or disclosing confidential information of the Company or any of its Affiliates while the Employee is serving as an officer or employee of the Company or thereafter, whether the Employee’s obligations arise under applicable statutory or common law, under an employment agreement, or otherwise.
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d.
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Forfeiture of payments under this Agreement. If the Employee breaches any of the covenants in this paragraph 4, the Employee’s right to any of the payments specified in paragraph 5 after the date of the breach shall be forever forfeited and the right of the Employee’s designated beneficiary or estate to any payments under this Agreement shall likewise be forever forfeited. This forfeiture is in addition to and not instead of any injunctive or other relief that may be available to the Company. The Employee further acknowledges and agrees that any breach of any of the covenants in paragraphs 3, 4 and 7 shall be deemed a material breach by the Employee of this Agreement.
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a.
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Payments. In consideration of the Employee’s non-competition and non-solicitation obligations, as described in paragraph 4, the Company shall pay to the Employee:
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(i)
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Upon the termination of Employee’s employment by the Company for Cause or upon a Voluntary Termination of Employment by the Employee, except for a Termination for Good Reason, a bi-monthly payment, in an amount equal to $3,541.67, which amount shall be paid in equal bi-monthly payments during the Restricted Period beginning on the fifth day of the month following the Employee’s Separation from Service; or
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(ii)
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Except as set forth in paragraph 5(c) below, upon the Employee’s Separation from Service for any reason other than those set forth in subparagraph (a)(i) above, an amount equal to 1.5 times the sum of (a) the annual rate of base salary then being paid to the Employee, plus (b) the average of the short-term bonuses paid to the Employee for the three years preceding the Employee’s Separation from Service, which amount shall be paid in 12 equal monthly payments beginning on the first day of the month following the Employee’s Separation from Service.
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(iii)
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Notwithstanding (i) and (ii) above, in the event the Employee has an involuntary Separation from Service including Good Reason that occurs within 24 months immediately following a Change in Control, the Employee shall receive an amount equal to the amount determined in (ii) above to be paid in a lump sum within 10 business days following the date of such involuntary Separation from Service.
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b.
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Potential six-month delay under Section 409A. If, when Separation from Service occurs, the Employee is a specified employee within the meaning of Section 409A of the Code, and if the non-competition payments under this paragraph 5 would be considered deferred compensation under Section 409A of the Code, and finally if an exemption from the six-month delay requirement of Section 409A(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Code is not available, the Employee’s non-competition payments for the first six months following Separation from Service shall be paid to the Employee in a single lump sum on the first day of the seventh month after the month in which the Employee’s Separation from Service occurs.
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c.
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Death and Disability. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no amounts are payable under this Agreement in the event of the Employee’s Separation from Service as a result of death or Disability. Further, all payments under this Agreement shall cease upon the Employee’s death.
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d.
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Employee’s Ineligibility to Work in Financial Products or Services Industry. Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, no amounts are payable under this Agreement in the event of a regulatory or other finding, action or directive resulting in the Employee’s ineligibility to work in the financial products or services industry (as defined in paragraph 1(g) above) pursuant to any applicable statute, rule or regulation.
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a.
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Services to be Provided by the Employee. Upon her Separation from Service with the Company and continuing for the Restricted Period, the Employee shall provide consulting and advisory services to the Company and any of its Affiliates with regard to the following matters:
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b.
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Time Commitment, Status and Responsibilities the Employee. The Employee shall make herself available to provide the above consulting services, at the request of the Company, for a maximum of 25 hours per month. Such services shall be provided by the Employee at places and times as the Company and the Employee shall agree. The Employee shall have the status of independent contractor and nothing in this Agreement shall: (i) be construed or interpreted as creating a relationship of employer and employee or principal and agent between the Employee and the Company; (ii) give either party the power to direct and control the day-to-day activities of the other; (iii) constitute the parties as partners, joint venturers or otherwise; or (iv) allow the Employee to create or assume any obligation on behalf of the Company for any purpose whatsoever. The Employee will not be entitled to any employee benefits during the Restricted Period as a result of this Agreement or the Prior Agreement. The Employee shall be responsible for paying all income taxes and other taxes owed by the Employee on amounts paid to the Employee pursuant to this Agreement. The Employee shall be responsible for keeping third persons appropriately informed of her inability to act in any way on behalf of the Company. During the Restricted Period, the Employee shall adhere to the Code of Business Conduct and Ethics of the Company.
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c.
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Title. The Company and the Employee shall agree to an appropriate title for the Employee during the Restricted Period.
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d.
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Responsibilities of the Company. During the Restricted Period, the Company shall provide the Employee, on the premises of the Company, with an office, computer, telephone and appropriate supplies and secretarial assistance necessary or appropriate for the Employee to perform the consulting services enumerated above. The Company shall provide the Employee with an email address utilizing the domain name of the Company.
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e.
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Compensation. The Employee shall not receive any additional compensation beyond that provided for in the Agreement for performing the consulting services enumerated in this Agreement, it being expressly agreed that her use of office space, a computer, telephone, supplies and secretarial assistance shall constitute adequate consideration for her services hereunder.
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a.
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In the case of the Company shall be:
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b.
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In the case of the Employee shall be:
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Date: December 13, 2019
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By:
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/s/ Laura Lee Stewart
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Laura Lee Stewart
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Accepted for Sound Community Bank:
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Date: December 13, 2019
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By:
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/s/ Tyler Myers
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Tyler Myers
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Its:
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Chairman of the Board
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