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Litigation and Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Oct. 31, 2016
Loss Contingency [Abstract] |
Litigation and Contingencies | Litigation and Contingencies Hewlett Packard Enterprise is involved in various lawsuits, claims, investigations and proceedings including those consisting of IP, commercial, securities, employment, employee benefits and environmental matters, which arise in the ordinary course of business. In addition, as part of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and HP Inc. (formerly known as "Hewlett-Packard Company") agreed to cooperate with each other in managing certain existing litigation related to both parties' businesses. The Separation and Distribution Agreement included provisions that allocate liability and financial responsibility for pending litigation involving the parties, as well as provide for cross-indemnification of the parties against liabilities to one party arising out of liabilities allocated to the other party. The Separation and Distribution Agreement also included provisions that assign to the parties responsibility for managing pending and future litigation related to the general corporate matters of HP Inc. arising prior to the Separation. Hewlett Packard Enterprise records a liability when it believes that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both the probability of having incurred a liability and the estimated amount of the liability. Hewlett Packard Enterprise reviews these matters at least quarterly and adjusts these liabilities to reflect the impact of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel and other updated information and events pertaining to a particular matter. Litigation is inherently unpredictable. However, Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes it has valid defenses with respect to legal matters pending against us. Nevertheless, cash flows or results of operations could be materially affected in any particular period by the resolution of one or more of these contingencies. Hewlett Packard Enterprise believes it has recorded adequate provisions for any such matters and, as of October 31, 2016, it was not reasonably possible that a material loss had been incurred in connection with such matters in excess of the amounts recognized in its financial statements. Litigation, Proceedings and Investigations Fair Labor Standards Act Litigation. Hewlett Packard Enterprise is involved in several pre-Separation lawsuits in which the plaintiffs are seeking unpaid overtime compensation and other damages based on allegations that various employees of Electronic Data Systems Corporation ("EDS") or HP Inc. have been misclassified as exempt employees under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the "FLSA") and/or in violation of the California Labor Code or other state laws. Those matters include the following:
• | Karlbom, et al. v. Electronic Data Systems Corporation was a class action filed on March 16, 2009 in California Superior Court alleging that certain information technology employees allegedly involved in installing and/or maintaining computer software and hardware were misclassified as exempt employees. On October 30, 2015, plaintiffs filed a motion to certify a Rule 23 state class of all California-based EDS employees in the Infrastructure Associate, Infrastructure Analyst, Infrastructure Specialist, and Infrastructure Specialist Senior job codes from March 16, 2005 through October 31, 2009 who they claim were improperly classified as exempt from overtime under state law. On January 22, 2016, the court denied plaintiffs' motion for class certification. On April 8, 2016, plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the California Court of Appeal, which was later dismissed voluntarily. On October 3, 2016, the court dismissed this matter with prejudice pursuant to an agreed-upon settlement.
• | Benedict v. Hewlett-Packard Company was a purported class and collective action filed on January 10, 2013 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California alleging that certain technical support employees allegedly involved in installing, maintaining and/or supporting computer software and/or hardware for HP Inc. were misclassified as exempt employees under the FLSA. The plaintiffs also alleged that HP Inc. violated California law by, among other things, allegedly improperly classifying these employees as exempt. On February 13, 2014, the court granted plaintiff's motion for conditional class certification. On May 7, 2015, plaintiff filed a motion to certify a Rule 23 state class of certain Technical Solutions Consultants in California, Massachusetts, and Colorado who they claim were improperly classified as exempt from overtime under state law. On July 30, 2015, the court dismissed the Technology Consultant and certain Field Technical Support Consultant opt-ins from the conditionally certified FLSA collective action. The court denied plaintiffs' motion for Rule 23 class certification on March 29, 2016. On April 12, 2016, plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal of that decision to the United States Court of Appeal for the Ninth Circuit, which was denied. On July 13, 2016, the court granted HP’s motion to decertify the FLSA class that had been conditionally certified on February 13, 2014. Currently, only the claims of the three individual named plaintiffs remain in the district court.
India Directorate of Revenue Intelligence Proceedings. On April 30 and May 10, 2010, the India Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (the "DRI") issued show cause notices to Hewlett-Packard India Sales Private Ltd ("HP India"), a subsidiary of HP Inc., seven HP India employees and one former HP India employee alleging that HP India underpaid customs duties while importing products and spare parts into India and seeking to recover an aggregate of approximately $370 million, plus penalties. Prior to the issuance of the show cause notices, HP India deposited approximately $16 million with the DRI and agreed to post a provisional bond in exchange for the DRI's agreement to not seize HP India products and spare parts and to not interrupt the transaction of business by HP India. On April 11, 2012, the Bangalore Commissioner of Customs issued an order on the products-related show cause notice affirming certain duties and penalties against HP India and the named individuals of approximately $386 million, of which HP India had already deposited $9 million. On December 11, 2012, HP India voluntarily deposited an additional $10 million in connection with the products-related show cause notice. On April 20, 2012, the Commissioner issued an order on the parts-related show cause notice affirming certain duties and penalties against HP India and certain of the named individuals of approximately $17 million, of which HP India had already deposited $7 million. After the order, HP India deposited an additional $3 million in connection with the parts-related show cause notice so as to avoid certain penalties. HP India filed appeals of the Commissioner's orders before the Customs Tribunal along with applications for waiver of the pre-deposit of remaining demand amounts as a condition for hearing the appeals. The Customs Department has also filed cross-appeals before the Customs Tribunal. On January 24, 2013, the Customs Tribunal ordered HP India to deposit an additional $24 million against the products order, which HP India deposited in March 2013. The Customs Tribunal did not order any additional deposit to be made under the parts order. In December 2013, HP India filed applications before the Customs Tribunal seeking early hearing of the appeals as well as an extension of the stay of deposit as to HP India and the individuals already granted until final disposition of the appeals. On February 7, 2014, the application for extension of the stay of deposit was granted by the Customs Tribunal until disposal of the appeals. On October 27, 2014, the Customs Tribunal commenced hearings on the cross-appeals of the Commissioner's orders. The Customs Tribunal rejected HP India's request to remand the matter to the Commissioner on procedural grounds. The hearings were scheduled to reconvene on April 6, 2015, and again on November 3, 2015 and April 11, 2016, but were canceled at the request of the Customs Tribunal. No new hearing date has been set. Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission Proceedings. In April 2014, HP Inc. and HP Inc. subsidiaries in Russia, Poland, and Mexico collectively entered into agreements with the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") and the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to resolve claims of Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ("FCPA") violations. Pursuant to the terms of the resolutions with the DOJ and SEC, HP Inc. was required to undertake certain compliance, reporting and cooperation obligations for a three year period. In October of 2015, Hewlett Packard Enterprise contractually undertook the same compliance, reporting and cooperation obligations that were held by HP Inc. under the DOJ resolutions for the balance of the three year period. Hewlett Packard Enterprise has reached a similar agreement with the SEC, which is set forth in an amended SEC administrative order dated July 15, 2016. ECT Proceedings. In January 2011, the postal service of Brazil, Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos ("ECT"), notified a former subsidiary of HP Inc. in Brazil ("HP Brazil") that it had initiated administrative proceedings to consider whether to suspend HP Brazil's right to bid and contract with ECT related to alleged improprieties in the bidding and contracting processes whereby employees of HP Brazil and employees of several other companies allegedly coordinated their bids and fixed results for three ECT contracts in 2007 and 2008. In late July 2011, ECT notified HP Brazil it had decided to apply the penalties against HP Brazil and suspend HP Brazil's right to bid and contract with ECT for five years, based upon the evidence before it. In August 2011, HP Brazil appealed ECT's decision. In April 2013, ECT rejected HP Brazil's appeal, and the administrative proceedings were closed with the penalties against HP Brazil remaining in place. In parallel, in September 2011, HP Brazil filed a civil action against ECT seeking to have ECT's decision revoked. HP Brazil also requested an injunction suspending the application of the penalties until a final ruling on the merits of the case. The court of first instance has not issued a decision on the merits of the case, but it has denied HP Brazil's request for injunctive relief. HP Brazil appealed the denial of its request for injunctive relief to the intermediate appellate court, which issued a preliminary ruling denying the request for injunctive relief but reducing the length of the sanctions from five to two years. HP Brazil appealed that decision and, in December 2011, obtained a ruling staying enforcement of ECT's sanctions until a final ruling on the merits of the case. HP Brazil expects the decision to be issued in 2017 and any subsequent appeal on the merits to last several years. Cisco Systems. On August 21, 2015, Cisco Systems, Inc. ("Cisco") and Cisco Systems Capital Corporation ("Cisco Capital") filed an action in Santa Clara County Superior Court for declaratory judgment and breach of contract against HP Inc. in connection with a dispute arising out of a third-party's termination of a services contract with HP Inc. As part of that third-party services contract, HP Inc. separately contracted with Cisco on an agreement to utilize Cisco products and services. HP Inc. prepaid the entire amount due Cisco through a financing arrangement with Cisco Capital. Following the termination of HP Inc.'s services contract with the third-party, HP Inc. no longer required Cisco's products and services, and accordingly, exercised its contractual termination rights under the agreement with Cisco, and requested that Cisco apply the appropriate credit toward the remaining balance owed Cisco Capital. This lawsuit relates to the calculation of that credit under the agreement between Cisco and HP Inc. Cisco contends that after the credit is applied, HP Inc. still owes Cisco Capital approximately $58 million. HP Inc. contends that under a proper reading of the agreement, HP Inc. owes nothing to Cisco Capital, and that Cisco owes a significant amounts to HP Inc. On December 18, 2015, the court held a status conference at which it lifted the responsive pleading and discovery stay. Following the conference, Cisco filed an amended complaint that abandons the claim for breach of contract set forth in the original complaint, and asserts a single cause of action for declaratory relief concerning the proper calculation of the cancellation credit. On January 19, 2016, HP Inc. filed a counterclaim for breach of contract simultaneously with its answer to the amended complaint. Fact discovery is scheduled to conclude December 16, 2016. Expert discovery is scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2017. The court has not set a trial date. Washington DC Navy Yard Litigation: In December 2013, HP Enterprise Services, LLC ("HPES") was named in the first lawsuit arising out of the September 2013 Washington DC Navy Yard shooting that resulted in the deaths of twelve individuals. The perpetrator was an employee of The Experts, HPES's now-terminated subcontractor on its IT services contract with the U.S. Navy. This initial action was filed in the Middle District of Florida but was transferred in February 2015 to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia so that it and all other known cases arising out of the shooting could be heard before the same Judge. HPES has been named as a defendant in fifteen lawsuits arising out of the shooting, including six lawsuits that were filed immediately prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations on September 16, 2016. All cases assert various negligence claims against HPES, The Experts, and other parties, including the U.S. Navy. The court previously dismissed the plaintiffs' claims against the U.S. Navy but did not, at that time, decide the motions to dismiss of HPES or The Experts. On September 15, 2016, the court issued an opinion granting in part and denying in part HPES' motion to dismiss the nine cases filed prior to September 2016. HPES also moved to dismiss the six most recently filed complaints on November 21, 2016. Forsyth, et al. vs. HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise: This purported class and collective action was filed on August 18, 2016 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, against HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise alleging defendants violated the Federal Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, California public policy and the California Business and Professions Code by terminating older workers and replacing them with younger workers. Plaintiffs seek to certify a nationwide collective action under the ADEA comprised of all U.S. residents employed by defendants who had their employment terminated pursuant to a WFR plan on or after May 23, 2012, and who were 40 years of age or older at the time of termination. Plaintiffs also seek to represent a Rule 23 class under California law comprised of all persons 40 years of age or older employed by defendants in the state of California and terminated pursuant to a WFR plan on or after May 23, 2012. Hewlett-Packard Company v. Oracle (Itanium): On June 15, 2011, HP Inc. filed suit against Oracle in Santa Clara Superior Court in connection with Oracle's March 2011 announcement that it was discontinuing software support for HP Inc.’s Itanium-based line of mission critical servers. HP Inc. asserted, among other things, that Oracle’s actions breached the contract that was signed by the parties as part of the settlement of the litigation relating to Oracle’s hiring of Mark Hurd. The matter eventually progressed to trial, which was bifurcated into two phases. HP Inc. prevailed in the first phase of the trial, in which the court ruled that the contract at issue required Oracle to continue to offer its software products on HP Inc.'s Itanium-based servers for as long as HP Inc. decided to sell such servers. Phase 2 of the trial was then postponed by Oracle’s appeal of the trial court’s denial of Oracle’s “anti-SLAPP” motion, in which Oracle argued that HP Inc.’s damages claim infringed on Oracle’s First Amendment rights. On August 27, 2015, the Court of Appeal rejected Oracle’s appeal. The matter was remanded to the trial court for Phase 2 of the trial, which began on May 23, 2016, and was submitted to the jury on June 29, 2016. On June 30, 2016, the jury returned a verdict in favor of HP Inc., awarding HP Inc. approximately $3 billion in damages: $1.7 billion for past lost profits and $1.3 billion for future lost profits. Final judgment was entered on October 20, 2016. Oracle has publicly stated that it will appeal. The Company expects that any appeal could take several years to be resolved and could materially affect the amount ultimately recovered by the Company. The amounts ultimately awarded, if any, would be recorded in the period received. Pursuant to the terms of the Separation and Distribution Agreement, HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise will share equally in any recovery from Oracle once Hewlett Packard Enterprise has been reimbursed for all costs incurred in the prosecution of the action prior to the HP Inc./Hewlett Packard Enterprise separation on November 1, 2015. Environmental The Company's operations and products are or may in the future become subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations concerning environmental protection, including laws addressing the discharge of pollutants into the air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes, the clean-up of contaminated sites, the substances and materials used in the Company's products, the energy consumption of products, services and operations and the operational or financial responsibility for recycling, treatment and disposal of those products. This includes legislation that makes producers of electrical goods, including servers and networking equipment, financially responsible for specified collection, recycling, treatment and disposal of past and future covered products (sometimes referred to as "product take-back legislation"). The Company could incur substantial costs, its products could be restricted from entering certain jurisdictions, and it could face other sanctions, if it were to violate or become liable under environmental laws or if its products become non-compliant with environmental laws. The Company's potential exposure includes impacts on revenue, fines and civil or criminal sanctions, third-party property damage or personal injury claims and clean-up costs. The amount and timing of costs to comply with environmental laws are difficult to predict. In particular, the Company may become a party to, or otherwise involved in, proceedings brought by U.S. or state environmental agencies under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), known as "Superfund," or other federal, state or foreign laws and regulations addressing the clean-up of contaminated sites, and may become a party to, or otherwise involved in, proceedings brought by private parties for contribution towards clean-up costs. The Company is also contractually obligated to make financial contributions to address actions related to certain environmental liabilities, both ongoing and arising in the future, pursuant to its Separation and Distribution Agreement with HP Inc.

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