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Commitments and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies The Company has various contractual commitments to purchase raw, packaging and other materials totaling approximately $559 at December 31, 2019. As a global company serving consumers in more than 200 countries and territories, the Company is routinely subject to a wide variety of legal proceedings. These include disputes relating to intellectual property, contracts, product liability, marketing, advertising, foreign exchange controls, antitrust and trade regulation, as well as labor and employment, pension, data privacy and security, environmental and tax matters and consumer class actions. Management proactively reviews and monitors the Company’s exposure to, and the impact of, environmental matters. The Company is party to various environmental matters and, as such, may be responsible for all or a portion of the cleanup, restoration and post-closure monitoring of several sites. The Company establishes accruals for loss contingencies when it has determined that a loss is probable and that the amount of loss, or range of loss, can be reasonably estimated. Any such accruals are adjusted thereafter as appropriate to reflect changes in circumstances. The Company also determines estimates of reasonably possible losses or ranges of reasonably possible losses in excess of related accrued liabilities, if any, when it has determined that a loss is reasonably possible and it is able to determine such estimates. For those matters disclosed below for which the amount of any potential losses can be reasonably estimated, the Company currently estimates that the aggregate range of reasonably possible losses in excess of any accrued liabilities is $0 to approximately $225 (based on current exchange rates). The estimates included in this amount are based on the Company’s analysis of currently available information and, as new information is obtained, these estimates may change. Due to the inherent subjectivity of the assessments and the unpredictability of outcomes of legal proceedings, any amounts accrued or included in this aggregate amount may not represent the ultimate loss to the Company. Thus, the Company’s exposure and ultimate losses may be higher or lower, and possibly significantly so, than the amounts accrued or the range disclosed above. Based on current knowledge, management does not believe that the ultimate resolution of loss contingencies arising from the matters discussed herein will have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or its ongoing results of operations or cash flows. However, in light of the inherent uncertainties noted above, an adverse outcome in one or more matters could be material to the Company’s results of operations or cash flows for any particular quarter or year. Brazilian Matters There are certain tax and civil proceedings outstanding, as described below, related to the Company’s 1995 acquisition of the Kolynos oral care business from Wyeth (the “Seller”). The Brazilian internal revenue authority has disallowed interest deductions and foreign exchange losses taken by the Company’s Brazilian subsidiary for certain years in connection with the financing of the Kolynos acquisition. The tax assessments with interest, penalties and any court-mandated fees, at the current exchange rate, are approximately $152. This amount includes additional assessments received from the Brazilian internal revenue authority in April 2016 relating to net operating loss carryforwards used by the Company’s Brazilian subsidiary to offset taxable income that had also been deducted from the authority’s original assessments. The Company has been disputing the disallowances by appealing the assessments since October 2001. There is one case currently on appeal at the administrative level. In the event the Company is ultimately unsuccessful in this administrative appeal, further appeals are available within the Brazilian federal courts. In September 2015, the Company lost one of its appeals at the administrative level and filed a lawsuit in Brazilian federal court. In February 2017, the Company lost an additional administrative appeal and filed a lawsuit in Brazilian federal court. In April 2019, the Company lost another administrative appeal and filed a lawsuit in Brazilian federal court. Although there can be no assurances, management believes, based on the opinion of its Brazilian legal counsel, that the disallowances are without merit and that the Company should ultimately prevail. The Company is challenging these disallowances vigorously. In July 2002, the Brazilian Federal Public Attorney filed a civil action against the federal government of Brazil, Laboratorios Wyeth-Whitehall Ltda. (the Brazilian subsidiary of the Seller) and the Company, as represented by its Brazilian subsidiary, in the 6th. Lower Federal Court in the City of São Paulo, seeking to annul an April 2000 decision by the Brazilian Board of Tax Appeals that found in favor of the Seller’s Brazilian subsidiary on the issue of whether it had incurred taxable capital gains as a result of the divestiture of Kolynos. The action seeks to make the Company’s Brazilian subsidiary jointly and severally liable for any tax due from the Seller’s Brazilian subsidiary. The case has been pending since 2002, and the Lower Federal Court has not issued a decision. Although there can be no assurances, management believes, based on the opinion of its Brazilian legal counsel, that the Company should ultimately prevail in this action. The Company is challenging this action vigorously. In December 2005, the Brazilian internal revenue authority issued to the Company’s Brazilian subsidiary a tax assessment with interest, penalties and any court-mandated fees of approximately $63, at the current exchange rate, based on a claim that certain purchases of U.S. Treasury bills by the subsidiary and their subsequent disposition during the period 2000 to 2001 were subject to a tax on foreign exchange transactions. The Company had been disputing the assessment within the internal revenue authority’s administrative appeals process. However, in November 2015, the Superior Chamber of Administrative Tax Appeals denied the Company’s final administrative appeal, and the Company has filed a lawsuit in the Brazilian federal court. In the event the Company is unsuccessful in this lawsuit, further appeals are available within the Brazilian federal courts. Although there can be no assurances, management believes, based on the opinion of its Brazilian legal counsel, that the tax assessment is without merit and that the Company should ultimately prevail. The Company is challenging this assessment vigorously. Competition Matters Certain of the Company’s subsidiaries have historically been subject to investigations, and, in some cases, fines, by governmental authorities in a number of countries related to alleged competition law violations. Substantially all of these matters also involved other consumer goods companies and/or retail customers. The Company’s policy is to comply with antitrust and competition laws and, if a violation of any such laws is found, to take appropriate remedial action and to cooperate fully with any related governmental inquiry. The status as of December 31, 2019 of competition law matters pending against the Company during the year ended December 31, 2019 is set forth below.
▪ | In December 2014, the French competition law authority found that 13 consumer goods companies, including the Company’s French subsidiary, exchanged competitively sensitive information related to the French home care and personal care sectors, for which the Company’s French subsidiary was fined $57. In addition, as a result of the Company’s acquisition of the Sanex personal care business in 2011 from Unilever N.V. and Unilever PLC (together with Unilever N.V., “Unilever,”), pursuant to a Business and Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (the “Sale and Purchase Agreement”), the French competition law authority found that the Company’s French subsidiary, along with Hillshire Brands Company (formerly Sara Lee Corporation (“Sara Lee”)), were jointly and severally liable for fines of $25 assessed against Sara Lee’s French subsidiary. The Company is indemnified for these fines by Unilever pursuant to the Sale and Purchase Agreement. The fines were confirmed by the Court of Appeal in October 2016. The Company appealed the decision of the Court of Appeal on behalf of the Company and Sara Lee in the French Supreme Court. In March 2019, the French Supreme Court denied the Company's appeal.
▪ | In July 2014, the Greek competition law authority issued a statement of objections alleging a restriction of parallel imports into Greece. The Company responded to this statement of objections. In July 2017, the Company received the decision from the Greek competition law authority in which the Company was fined $11. The Company appealed the decision to the Greek courts. In April 2019, the Greek courts affirmed the judgment against the Company's Greek subsidiary, but reduced the fine to $10.5 and dismissed the case against Colgate-Palmolive Company. The Company's Greek subsidiary has appealed
the decision to the Greek Supreme Court. Talcum Powder Matters The Company has been named as a defendant in civil actions alleging that certain talcum powder products that were sold prior to 1996 were contaminated with asbestos. Most of these actions involve a number of co-defendants from a variety of different industries, including suppliers of asbestos and manufacturers of products that, unlike the Company’s products, were designed to contain asbestos. As of December 31, 2019, there were 121 individual cases pending against the Company in state and federal courts throughout the United States, as compared to 239 cases as of December 31, 2018. During the year ended December 31, 2019, 110 new cases were filed and 228 cases were resolved by voluntary dismissal, dismissal by the court, judgment in the Company’s favor or settlement. During the year ended December 31, 2019, one case resulted in a jury verdict in favor of the Company after a trial, which is now pending appeal by the plaintiff, and one case resulted in an adverse jury verdict after a trial, which the Company is appealing. The value of the settlements and of the adverse jury verdict in the year presented was not material, either individually or in the aggregate, to such period’s results of operations. The Company believes that a significant portion of its costs incurred in defending and resolving these claims will be covered by insurance policies issued by several primary, excess and umbrella insurance carriers, subject to deductibles, exclusions, retentions and policy limits. While the Company and its legal counsel believe that these cases are without merit and intend to challenge them vigorously, there can be no assurances regarding the ultimate resolution of these matters. With the exception of the case where the Company received an adverse jury verdict, the range of reasonably possible losses in excess of accrued liabilities disclosed above does not include any amount relating to these cases because the amount of any possible losses from such cases currently cannot be reasonably estimated. ERISA Matter In June 2016, a putative class action claiming that residual annuity payments made to certain participants in the Colgate-Palmolive Company Employees’ Retirement Income Plan (the “Plan”) did not comply with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act was filed against the Plan, the Company and certain individuals in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. This action has been certified as a class action. The relief sought includes recalculation of benefits, pre- and post-judgment interest and attorneys’ fees. The Company is contesting this action vigorously. Since the amount of any potential loss from this case currently cannot be reasonably estimated, the range of reasonably possible losses in excess of accrued liabilities disclosed above does not include any amount relating to the case.

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