AMENDED
AND RESTATED
SEVERANCE
AGREEMENT
This
Amended and Restated Severance Agreement (this “Agreement”) is made as of this
29th
day of
March 2007 between ROBERT H. RUDMAN (“You” or “Executive”) and DOLLAR TREE
STORES, INC. (“Dollar Tree.” For purposes of this Agreement, “Dollar Tree” shall
be deemed to include any of its direct or indirect subsidiaries.) This Agreement
amends, restates, and supersedes in its entirety that certain Severance
agreement dated June 4, 2003 by and between Executive and Dollar
Tree.
In
the
event Dollar Tree terminates your employment
for any reason other than "cause," death, permanent disability or
retirement, you shall be entitled to receive one year of salary
continuation
as
SEVERANCE. Such salary continuation will begin the day after your employment
separation and continue for twelve (12) months. Anything herein to the contrary
notwithstanding, no SEVERANCE shall be payable under this Agreement if your
employment with Dollar Tree terminates on or after May 26, 2008.
On
the
date hereof, Executive and Dollar Tree have also entered into that certain
Retention Agreement by and between Dollar Tree and Executive (“Retention
Agreement”). In the event severance would otherwise be payable under both this
Agreement and Retention Agreement, then (i) the Severance Payment (as defined
in
the Retention Agreement) shall be in lieu of any SEVERANCE under this Agreement
and no payments shall be made under this Agreement, and (ii) if any SEVERANCE
has been paid under this Agreement, the Severance Payment under the Retention
Agreement shall be reduced by the amount of any SEVERANCE that may have been
paid under this Agreement.
As
a
fundamental condition for this SEVERANCE provision, you agree not to compete
with Dollar Tree for one year if SEVERANCE is triggered. Consequently, during
such one year period you will not directly or indirectly operate or promote
within five miles of any Dollar Tree store: 1.)
a
facility or business of at least 500 square feet dedicated to a single
price
point at
or below $1.00; 2.) engage in any type of paper, internet or electronic
solicitation dedicated to a single price point at or below $1.00; or 3.) operate
any discount variety store selling more than $100,000 per year dedicated to
a
single price point at or below $1.00. In agreeing to this provision, you
acknowledge that Dollar Tree is a growing company that currently operates in
47
or more states.
As
a
fundamental condition of this SEVERANCE provision, you also agree not to
directly or indirectly influence or attempt to influence any supplier, service
provider or other person or entity with whom Dollar Tree does business to
modify, terminate or change the course of dealing or any written
or verbal agreement that Dollar Tree has with such person or entity
or take
other action that would adversely impact Dollar Tree's relationship with its
suppliers or service providers.
As
a
fundamental condition of the SEVERANCE provision, you also agree not to directly
or indirectly hire or attempt to hire any Dollar Tree employee or to solicit,
induce or attempt to solicit or induce any Dollar Tree employee
to leave his or her job for any reason whatsoever, without the prior
written
consent of Dollar Tree. This limitation on hire and solicitation, however,
does not prohibit solicitations for employment by means of general advertisement,
such as newspaper, that is not targeted specifically at Dollar
Tree
employees.
For
SEVERANCE purposes, "cause" shall include: (a) conduct that would constitute
a
felony or crime involving moral turpitude; (b) conduct that would tend to
discredit Dollar Tree or be disloyal to Dollar Tree; (c) embezzlement
or misappropriation of funds or property of Dollar Tree; (d)
gross or
repeated neglect of duties after having received a warning; (e) failure
to promptly comply with rules, policies or directives of Dollar
Tree;
or
(f) other
conduct that creates a serious threat to the orderly handling of Dollar Tree's
affairs.
Any
controversy concerning this SEVERANCE provision shall be submitted
to arbitration pursuant to the rules of the American Arbitration Association.
The determination of the arbitrator shall be final and binding and
conclusive on all parties. The cost of the arbitration shall be borne
by
the
party losing the arbitration.
This
SEVERANCE provision is not intended to confer an employment
contract of any nature, either express or implied. It does not
change
your employment-at-will status.
DOLLAR
TREE STORES, INC
By: _/s/
Bob Sasser____________________
Bob
Sasser,
Chief
Executive Officer
_/s/
Robert H. Rudman____________
ROBERT
H.
RUDMAN,
Executive