Who Is Eligible for the Severance Plan

You will be eligible for participation in the DallasNews Corporation Severance Plan if you are a regular full-time employee. DallasNews Corporation may, in its discretion, determine that certain regular part-time employees are eligible to participate. If your employment should be involuntarily terminated and you are determined to be eligible for severance, you must sign, and not revoke, a release in a form prescribed by DallasNews Corporation in order to receive a severance benefit.
You are not eligible to participate in the DallasNews Corporation Severance Plan if you are:
A temporary employee
A leased employee
An individual treated as an independent contractor at the time services are provided (even if you should be later retroactively reclassified as an employee).
You will not be eligible to receive benefits under the Severance Plan if:
You are terminated for cause (as defined in the Severance Plan);
You terminate employment voluntarily, due to death or disability or upon expiration of a leave of absence;
You fail to complete any transition tasks assigned to you by an employer to the employer’s sole satisfaction;
You are an employee who is offered comparable employment (as defined in the Severance Plan), whether or not you accept such an offer;
You accept an enhanced voluntary early retirement benefit offered by an employer (should an employer choose to offer one);
You are covered by a collective bargaining agreement between an employer and a labor organization, unless that agreement provides for participation in the Severance Plan;
You are eligible for severance pay or other termination benefits under any employment or other agreement with DallasNews Corporation or any other participating employer (including without limitation a change of control or similar agreement); or
You are receiving benefits under a long-term disability plan sponsored by DallasNews Corporation.
Notwithstanding anything in the Severance Plan or in this SPD to the contrary, DallasNews Corporation reserves the right to determine on a case-by-case basis whether an individual will be eligible for a severance benefit under the Severance Plan or whether any otherwise eligible employee will be excluded from participation in the Severance Plan, and to instruct the plan administrator to approve an amount of severance benefit that is different than that described in the Severance Plan or in this SPD (either higher or lower) with respect to any participant.

How the Severance Plan Works

When Are Severance Benefits Paid?

Benefits will be payable under the Severance Plan only if you are an eligible employee, receive notice from DallasNews Corporation that your employment is or will be terminated, without cause, and the plan administrator determines that you are eligible for severance plan benefits.

What Is the Plan’s Severance Benefit?

If you are determined to be eligible for severance benefits, the calculation of the benefit payable under the Severance Plan will depend upon your position, your completed Years of Service and your Base Salary as of your termination date. However, in order for you to receive any severance benefits under the Severance Plan, you must execute, and not revoke, a release in a form prescribed by DallasNews Corporation.
For purposes of the Severance Plan, “Base Salary” means annual base compensation rate at the time of your termination of employment. If you are a salaried employee, your weekly Base Salary will be calculated by dividing your annual Base Salary by 52. If you are an hourly employee, your weekly Base Salary will be calculated by multiplying your base hourly rate of pay by the number of hours in your employer’s standard work week. Base Salary does not include commissions, bonuses, overtime, incentive compensation, cost of living adjustments, benefits paid under any qualified plan, any group medical, dental or other welfare benefit plan, noncash compensation or any other additional compensation, but it will include salary reduction amounts under DallasNews Corporation’s 401(k) or cafeteria plans, or a nonqualified elective deferred compensation arrangement, if any, to the extent that in each such case the reduction is to base salary.
For purposes of the Severance Plan, a “Year of Service” means each 12-month period of service with a participating employer commencing on your date of hire and each anniversary thereof. Years of Service for this purpose will include service with any company that is (or was during your employment) affiliated with DallasNews Corporation or, for periods prior to February 8, 2008, was affiliated with DallasNews Corporation and its affiliates. Any benefits payable under the Severance Plan will be reduced by amounts withheld to satisfy your federal, state or local income or other tax obligations.

Vice Presidents and Above

Under the Severance Plan’s formula, an eligible participant employed at or above the level of Vice-President will be entitled to receive a lump sum severance benefit equal to the sum of (i) 1.25 week of Base Salary multiplied by the participant’s Years of Service, but in no event less than 16 weeks’ Base Salary and not more than 26 weeks’ Base Salary, plus (ii) an amount equal to six times the monthly COBRA premium applicable to the participant’s coverage level under the DallasNews Corporation Health Care and Welfare Benefit Plan (or its successor).

If COBRA premiums when calculated are less than $3,000 or if the employee is not covered under the DallasNews Corporation Plan, a flat $3,000 will be paid.

Positions Below Vice-President

An eligible participant employed below the level of Vice-President with 8 Years of Service or less, will be entitled to receive a lump sum severance benefit equal to 1.25 weeks’ Base Salary multiplied by the participant’s Years of Service, but in no event less than four weeks’ Base Salary.An eligible participant employed below the level of Vice-President with more than 8 Years of Service will be entitled to receive a lump sum severance benefit equal to 1.25 weeks’ Base Salary multiplied by 8 Years of Service; plus 1 week of Base Salary multiplied by the numbers of Years of Service in excess of 8 Years of Service; but in no event will the amount paid be greater than 26 weeks’ Base Salary.

Three times the monthly COBRA premium applicable to the Participant's coverage or if three months of premiums is less than $3,000 or the employee is not covered under the DallasNews Corporation Plan a flat $3,000 will be paid.

Examples

The following examples will illustrate the calculation of benefits under the Severance Plan:

Vice President or Above

Example #1: Calculation of Severance Benefit
If a participant’s weekly Base Salary is $3375 and he or she has 33 Years of Service, the participant will be eligible to receive a lump sum severance benefit of: $87,750.00 (1.25 week of Base Salary multiplied by 26 Years of Service, but not more than 26 weeks base salary), plus six months of then-current COBRA premiums.
Example #2: Calculation of Minimum Severance Benefit
If a participant’s weekly Base Salary is $3,375 and he or she has 15 Years of Service, the participant will be eligible to receive a lump sum severance benefit of: $54,000 (1.25 week of Base Salary multiplied by 15 Years of Service, but not less than 16 weeks’ Base Salary), plus six months of then-current COBRA premiums.

Positions Below Vice-President

Example #1: Calculation of Severance Benefit
If a participant’s weekly Base Salary is $961 and the participant has 5 Years of Service, he or she will be eligible to receive a total severance benefit of $6,006 (1.25 weeks’ Base Salary multiplied by 5 Years of Service).
Example #2: Calculation of Maximum Severance Benefit
If a participant’s weekly Base Salary is $961 and the participant has 28 Years of Service, he or she will be eligible to receive a total severance benefit of $27,388.50 (1.25 weeks’ Base Salary multiplied by 8 Years of Service, and 1.0 weeks’ Base Salary multiplied by 16 Years of Service subject to a maximum benefit of 26 weeks of Base Salary).


Updated 10/11/2023

When Are Severance Plan Benefits Paid?

As a condition to receiving a benefit under the Severance Plan, an eligible participant will be required to sign a release addressing certain promises and covenants pertaining to their employment with DallasNews Corporation. Each participant will have a period of time specified by the Committee to consider the severance benefit available under the Severance Plan, as well as the terms of the release. The Severance Plan and the release require that any dispute or controversy arising under or in connection with the release be settled exclusively by arbitration.
Severance benefits will be paid to eligible participants in a cash lump sum within 10 business days (or at such earlier time as required by applicable law) following the later of the participant’s termination of employment or the effective date of the release.
Important: if a participant does not sign the release described above or signs it and revokes it after singing it, he or she will not be entitled to any severance benefits under the Severance Plan.
You are not required to seek other employment or to attempt in any way to reduce any amounts payable to you pursuant to the Severance Plan in order to receive severance benefits. Further, the amount of the severance benefit will not be reduced by any compensation earned as a result of employment by another employer or otherwise. The amount of the severance benefits under the Severance Plan will satisfy DallasNews Corporation’s obligation to make any payments otherwise due under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN) or similar law.

Duration of the Severance Plan

DallasNews Corporation reserves the right to amend or terminate the Severance Plan by action of the Board (or an authorized committee thereof) at any time and for any reason.

Filing Severance Plan Claims

If you question the amount of your benefit under the Severance Plan, your eligibility for a benefit under the Severance Plan, or any other aspect of the operation of the Severance Plan, you must file a written application with the DallasNews Corporation Benefits Administrative Committee (the “Committee”) or such other person designated by the Committee from time to time for such purpose. Such claim must be filed before the execution of a release.
You will be notified of the acceptance or denial of your claim for a benefit within 90 days from the date the Committee or such other designated person receives your election. In some cases, your request may take more time to review and an additional processing period of up to an additional 90 days may be required. If this happens, you will be notified.
If your claim is denied in whole or in part, you will be notified in writing of the reason for the denial and the specific references to the Severance Plan provisions on which the denial is based. This notice also will explain what additional information is needed to perfect the claim and an explanation of why the information is necessary, together with an explanation of the Severance Plan’s review procedure.
If you are not notified within 90 days from the date you notify the Committee, you may request a review of your application as if your claim had been denied.

Severance Plan Appeals

If your claim has been denied and you wish to have your claim reviewed:
You must request, in writing, within 60 days, a review of your claim by the Committee
You may review all documents relevant to the denial (upon reasonable notice)
You must submit all issues and comments in writing.
The Committee will make a final written decision on a claim review, in most cases within 60 days, but in no event later than 120 days after a receipt of a request for a review, giving the specific reasons for the denial and making specific references to the Severance Plan provisions on which the decision is based. The Committee has the sole discretion, based on the Severance Plan documents, to decide any claim and any such decision is final, conclusive and binding on all persons.