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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | 9 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Letters of Credit The Company can issue letters of credit under its secured receivables credit facility and its $750 million senior unsecured revolving credit facility. For further discussion regarding the facilities, see Note 14 to the audited consolidated financial statements in the Company's 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K. In support of its risk management program, $73 million in letters of credit under the secured receivables credit facility were outstanding as of September 30, 2024, providing collateral for current and future automobile liability and workers’ compensation loss payments. Contingent Lease Obligations The Company remains subject to contingent obligations under certain real estate leases for which no liability has been recorded. For further details, see Note 19 to the audited consolidated financial statements in the Company’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain Legal Matters The Company may incur losses associated with these proceedings and investigations, but it is not possible to estimate the amount of loss or range of loss, if any, that might result from adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, or other resolution of these proceedings and investigations based on the stage of these proceedings and investigations, the absence of specific allegations as to alleged damages, the uncertainty as to the certification of a class or classes and the size of any certified class, if applicable, and/or the lack of resolution of significant factual and legal issues. The Company has insurance coverage rights in place (limited in amount; subject to deductible) for certain potential costs and liabilities related to these proceedings and investigations. In 2020, two putative class action lawsuits were filed in the U.S. District Court for New Jersey against the Company and other defendants with respect to the Company’s 401(k) plan. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the fiduciaries of the 401(k) plan breached their duties by failing to disclose the expenses and risks of plan investment options, allowing unreasonable administration expenses to be charged to plan participants, and selecting and retaining high cost and poor performing investments. In October 2020, the court consolidated the two lawsuits under the caption In re: Quest Diagnostics ERISA Litigation and plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended complaint. In May 2021, the court denied the Company's motion to dismiss the complaint. After discovery was completed, the Company filed a motion for summary judgment, which was granted. On June 3, 2019, the Company reported that Retrieval-Masters Creditors Bureau, Inc./American Medical Collection Agency (“AMCA”) had informed the Company and Optum360 LLC that an unauthorized user had access to AMCA’s system between August 1, 2018 and March 30, 2019 (the “AMCA Data Security Incident”). Optum360 provides revenue management services to the Company, and AMCA provided debt collection services to Optum360. AMCA first informed the Company of the AMCA Data Security Incident on May 14, 2019. AMCA’s affected system included financial information (e.g., credit card numbers and bank account information), medical information and other personal information (e.g., social security numbers). Test results were not included. Neither Optum360’s nor the Company’s systems or databases were involved in the incident. AMCA also informed the Company that information pertaining to other laboratories’ customers was also affected. Following announcement of the AMCA Data Security Incident, AMCA sought protection under the U.S. bankruptcy laws. The bankruptcy proceeding has been dismissed. Numerous putative class action lawsuits were filed against the Company related to the AMCA Data Security Incident. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred the cases that were then still pending to, and consolidated them for pre-trial proceedings in, the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. In November 2019, the plaintiffs in the multidistrict proceeding filed a consolidated putative class action complaint against the Company and Optum360 that named additional individuals as plaintiffs and that asserted a variety of common law and statutory claims in connection with the AMCA Data Security Incident. In January 2020, the Company moved to dismiss the consolidated complaint; the motion to dismiss was granted in part and denied in part. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, which the Company also moved to dismiss. The motion was granted in part and denied in part. Discovery is proceeding. In addition, a group of state attorney general offices are investigating the Company in connection with the AMCA Data Security Incident. The Company is cooperating with the investigation. ReproSource Fertility Diagnostics, Inc. (“ReproSource”), a subsidiary of the Company, is subject to two putative class action lawsuits related to a data security incident that occurred in August 2021 in which plaintiffs allege that an unauthorized party accessed or acquired protected health information and personally identifiable information of ReproSource patients. Bickham v. ReproSource Fertility Diagnostics, Inc. is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts (the "Massachusetts District Court"), and Trouville v. ReproSource Fertility Diagnostics, Inc., which was originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, has now been transferred to the Massachusetts District Court. A third case filed in the Massachusetts District Court, Gordon v. ReproSource Fertility Diagnostics, Inc., was consolidated into the Bickham case. The Bickham and Trouville complaints seek to represent a class of all individuals potentially impacted by the August 2021 data security incident, and generally allege that ReproSource, among other claims, failed to adequately safeguard patients’ private information. On January 10, 2024, ReproSource agreed to settle the Bickham case on a class-wide basis, and the settlement was approved by the District Court on July 25, 2024. The Company’s motion to stay the Trouville case was granted, and the plaintiff agreed to dismiss the case. The Company is subject to a putative class action entitled Cole, et al. v Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, which was filed in the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, for allegedly conspiring with Facebook to track customers’ internet communications on Company web platforms without authorization, in violation of the California Invasion of Privacy Act and the California Confidentiality of Medical Information Act . The complaint alleged that the Company’s actions were an invasion of privacy and contributed to a loss of value in plaintiffs’ personally identifiable information. The Company moved to dismiss the case or, in the alternative, transfer venue to the U.S. District Court for New Jersey. Subsequently, plaintiffs filed an amended complaint, which the Company also moved to dismiss. The Company's motion to transfer the case was granted. The Company refiled its motion to dismiss with the New Jersey District Court, which was granted in part and denied in part. As previously disclosed, in August 2011, the Company had received a subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia seeking various business records, including records related to the Company's compliance program, certain marketing materials, certain product offerings, and certain test ordering and other policies. The Company cooperated with the request. In 2021, a third amended complaint in a qui tam action filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia was unsealed, which is related to the matter underlying the August 2011 subpoena. Both the U.S. Department of Justice and the State of Georgia declined to intervene in the action. The Company moved to dismiss the complaint and the complaint was dismissed without prejudice in August 2022. The relator subsequently filed a fourth amended complaint, which the Company has moved to dismiss. On August 23, 2024, the district court dismissed the complaint with prejudice. The realtor has filed a notice of appeal. The Company also received subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey. The subpoenas seek various records relating to the Company’s relationship with the New York Giants and adherence to certain company policies and federal laws. The Company is cooperating with the investigation. The Company has also received subpoenas from the New York Attorney General’s Office that seek information about, among other things, the ordering and billing of certain test panels to Medicaid programs in New York. The Company is cooperating with the investigation. Other Legal Matters In the normal course of business, the Company has been named, from time to time, as a defendant in various legal actions, including arbitrations, class actions and other litigation, arising in connection with the Company's activities as a provider of diagnostic testing, information and services. These actions could involve claims for substantial compensatory and/or punitive damages or claims for indeterminate amounts of damages, and could have an adverse impact on the Company's client base and reputation. The Company is also involved, from time to time, in other reviews, investigations and proceedings by governmental agencies regarding the Company's business which may result in adverse judgments, settlements, fines, penalties, injunctions or other relief. The federal or state governments may bring claims based on the Company's current practices, which it believes are lawful. In addition, certain federal and state statutes, including the qui tam provisions of the federal False Claims Act, allow private individuals to bring lawsuits against healthcare companies on behalf of government or private payers. The Company is aware of lawsuits, and from time to time has received subpoenas, related to billing or other practices based on the False Claims Act or other federal and state statutes, regulations or other laws. The Company understands that there may be other pending qui tam claims brought by former employees or other "whistleblowers" as to which the Company cannot determine the extent of any potential liability. Management cannot predict the outcome of such matters. Although management does not anticipate that the ultimate outcome of such matters will have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition, given the high degree of judgment involved in establishing loss estimates related to these types of matters, the outcome of such matters may be material to the Company's consolidated results of operations or cash flows in the period in which the impact of such matters is determined or paid. These matters are in different stages. Some of these matters are in their early stages. Matters may involve responding to and cooperating with various government investigations and related subpoenas. As of September 30, 2024, the Company does not believe that material losses related to legal matters are probable. Reserves for legal matters totaled $4 million and $6 million as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. Reserves for General and Professional Liability Claims As a general matter, providers of clinical testing services may be subject to lawsuits alleging negligence or other similar legal claims. These suits could involve claims for substantial damages. Any professional liability litigation could also have an adverse impact on the Company's client base and reputation. The Company maintains various liability insurance coverages for, among other things, claims that could result from providing, or failing to provide, clinical testing services, including inaccurate testing results, and other exposures. The Company's insurance coverage limits its maximum exposure on individual claims; however, the Company is essentially self-insured for a significant portion of these claims. The Company is subject to a series of individual claims brought by persons in Ireland related to allegations stemming from pap smear screening services performed by the Company. In general, claimants have alleged that the results of certain pap smear screening tests performed by the Company and other providers, pursuant to a program coordinated by the Irish government, were incorrect for individuals who were later diagnosed with cervical cancer. The Irish government and an independent scoping inquiry commissioned by the Irish government found that the Company’s performance of its screening services for the Irish cervical cancer screening program were in accordance with both Ireland’s requirements and international standards. The Company has settled claims made by certain individuals, is a party in multiple lawsuits and may be served as a party in additional lawsuits. The Company does not believe that the resolution of existing or future claims will have a material adverse effect on its financial position or liquidity, but the ultimate outcomes of these claims are unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties. Reserves for general and professional liability claims matters, including those associated with both asserted and incurred but not reported claims, are established on an undiscounted basis by considering actuarially determined losses based upon the Company's historical and projected loss experience. Such reserves totaled $166 million and $173 million as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. While the basis for claims reserves is actuarially determined losses based upon the Company's historical and projected loss experience, the process of analyzing, assessing and establishing reserve estimates relative to these types of claims involves a high degree of judgment. Although the Company believes that its present reserves and insurance coverage are sufficient to cover currently estimated exposures, it is possible that the Company may incur liabilities in excess of its recorded reserves or insurance coverage. Changes in the facts and circumstances associated with claims could have a material impact on the Company’s results of operations (principally costs of services), cash flows and financial condition in the period that reserve estimates are adjusted or paid.

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