Annual report pursuant to Section 13 and 15(d)

14. Settlement with Former Officer

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14. Settlement with Former Officer
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2014
Settlement With Former Officer  
14. Settlement with Former Officer

On November 15, 2013, Cecil Kyte voluntarily resigned as a Director, Chairman of the Board, a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, and CEO. Subject to terms of Mr. Kyte’s separation agreement, Kyte received a severance pay equal to one-year’s salary of $350,000 paid in 24 equal installments of $14,853, subject to all applicable tax withholdings, beginning November 30, 2013 through November 15, 2014. As a result, the Company recognized expense of $350,000 for severance pay plus $14,315 in corresponding payroll taxes for a total of $364,315. As of December 31, 2013, the outstanding severance pay balance amounted to $305,441 and deferred payroll tax balance of $13,318 and are reported in the Company’s balance sheet as part of Accrued Expense and Accounts Payable – Related Parties

 

In 2014, the Company paid all the remaining severance pay and deferred payroll taxes of $318,759.

 

At the time of separation, Mr. Kyte held unvested options which had been granted in January 2011 to purchase 10,560,000 shares of common stock at $0.25 per share, of which 3,520,000 shares were due to vest in January 2014 and 7,040,000 shares were due to fully vest by January 2016. Under terms of the separation agreement, the Company accelerated the vesting of the 3,520,000 options due to vest in January 2014 to November 15, 2013 while the remaining options to purchase 7,040,000 shares were forfeited.

 

Pursuant to current accounting guidelines, the Company recognized an expense related to the accelerated vesting in the amount of $3,809,325 the fair value of which was determined using a Black-Scholes Option Pricing model with the following: risk-free interest rate of 2.06%; dividend yield of 0%; volatility of 130%; and an expected life of 7 years. Previously recorded compensation recorded in 2013 related to the original vesting schedule of the 3,520,000 options was reversed, and the total of $3,809,325 is recorded in Operating Expenses in the accompanying consolidated Statement of Operations for 2013.

 

Mr. Kyte also held additional unvested options which had been granted as board compensation in September 2013 to purchase 21,009 shares of common stock at $1.19 per share. These options were forfeited pursuant to the separation agreement.