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The Company’s Audit Committee has established procedures
for the:
- Receipt, retention and treatment of complaints
regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or
auditing maters
- Confidential, anonymous submission by employees of
the Company of concerns regarding questionable
accounting or auditing matters
The Company’s Audit Committee shall receive, retain,
investigate and act on complaints and concerns regarding
all accounting and auditing matters.
The Company’s Nomination and Governance Committee shall
receive, retain, investigate and act on complaints and
concerns regarding all governance and corporate ethics
matters
The Company’s General Counsel shall receive, retain,
investigate and act on complaints and concerns regarding
all other items.
PROCEDURES FOR RECEIVING REPORTS
The Company has engaged a third party service provider,
EthicsPoint to receive and disseminate complaints and
concerns from associates, business partners or
shareholders. Any report, whether open, confidential or
anonymous shall be made directly to EthicsPoint.
Complaints can be made via their web site at
https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/en/report_company.asp
or 1-(866)-293-2409. The contact information will be
distributed to all Company employees and posted on the
Company website.
Each Report forwarded to the Audit Committee by management
and each Report that is made directly to the Audit
Committee, whether openly, confidentially or anonymously,
shall be reviewed by the Audit Committee designee, who
may, in his or her discretion, consult with any member of
senior management who is not the subject of the allegation
and who may have appropriate expertise to assist the Audit
Committee. The Audit Committee shall determine whether the
Audit Committee or management should investigate the
Report, taking into account the considerations set forth
below.
The Company will not discharge, demote, suspend, threaten,
harass or in any manner discriminate against any employee
in the terms and conditions of employment based upon the
lawful actions of such employee with respect to good faith
reporting of complaints regarding Reports or otherwise as
specified in Section 806 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of
2002.
PROTECTION OF WHISTLEBLOWERS
The Audit Committee shall not retaliate, and shall not
tolerate any retaliation by management or the Company,
directly or indirectly, against anyone who, in good faith,
makes an allegation reports a retaliatory act or provides
assistance to the Audit Committee, management or any other
person or group. The Audit Committee shall not, unless
compelled by judicial or other legal process, reveal the
identity of any person who makes an allegation or reports
a retaliatory act and shall not make any effort, or
tolerate any effort made by management or the Company, to
ascertain the identity of any person who makes a report
anonymously.
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