Neiman Marcus 2009 Annual Report Download - page 483

presented. If you feel at any time that a matter has been overlooked or unaddressed, please notify the Legal Department.
The Company and its associates are prohibited from imposing any form of retaliation against anyone who files a report in good faith,
without regard to the identity or position of the suspect offender. Reports submitted in bad faith or containing false or misleading
information may subject the reporter to disciplinary action. Failure to report knowledge of wrongdoing may result in disciplinary
action against those who fail to report such matters. An associate is not immune from disciplinary action by simply filing a report, as
evidence of misconduct may still be grounds for appropriate disciplinary action.
COMPLIANCE WITH LAWS AND RELATED POLICIES
FAIR DEALING
Associates must deal fairly with all co-workers, customers, vendors, suppliers, competitors, and third parties. Under no circumstances
may an associate engage in manipulation, concealment, abuse of confidential information, misrepresentation of material facts, or any
other unfair practice.
ANTITRUST LAWS
Associates are prohibited from making any agreements with competitors in restraint of trade, and shall not engage in price fixing,
resale price maintenance, unlawful boycotts, price discrimination or other acts that violate applicable antitrust and trade practice laws.
Federal and state antitrust laws are intended to preserve and to promote fair and open competition, which lies at the foundation of a
free enterprise system. While the Company should compete aggressively and creatively, its commitment is to compete in strict
compliance with the letter and spirit of all antitrust and trade practice laws. These laws generally forbid agreements or joint actions
between competitors regarding prices, product or territory allocations, customers or suppliers, agreements or joint actions between a
supplier and a customer that restrain or tend to reduce competition, and any conduct of a single firm that is intended to illegally
establish or maintain a dominant market position or monopoly. Associations, joint ventures or mergers with actual or potential
competitors pose special problems that need to be analyzed with particular care and must be approved in advance by the Legal
Department.
Under antitrust laws, unlawful agreements need not take the form of a written contract or consist of express commitments or mutual
assurances. Courts can — and do — infer agreements based on informal discussions or the exchange of information between
competitors from which pricing or other collusion could result. Any communication with a competitor's representative, no matter how
innocuous it may seem at the time, may later be subject to antitrust scrutiny and form the basis for accusations of improper or illegal
conduct. Associates must conduct all relations with competitors and other third parties, including social activities, as if they were
completely in the public view, as those relations may be subject to probing examination and unfavorable interpretation.
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