Quick Tips: Equity-Based Executive Compensation
For anyone who wants to better understand the treatment of equity based executive compensation at law, I find Battiston v Microsoft Canada Inc. to be a very clear roadmap and worth the read for that alone.
My favorite take-aways, though, are:
1. Termination provisions found in stock plan documents which seek to preclude an employee’s right to have unvested awards vest in the event of a termination without cause are “harsh and oppressive”; and
2. Even clear language excluding participation in a plan which is otherwise enforceable will not limit an employee’s rights to ongoing vesting if those clear terms are not brought to the employee’s attention (cameo by Tilden Rent a Car!).