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Note 15 - Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2023
Notes to Financial Statements |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block] | 15. Commitments and Contingencies The Company has an arrangement with a finance company to provide floor plan financing for certain dealers. The Company receives payment from the finance company after shipment of product to the dealer. The Company participates in the cost of dealer financing up to certain limits and has agreed to repurchase products repossessed by the finance company, but does not indemnify the finance company for any credit losses they incur. The amount financed by dealers which remained outstanding under this arrangement on March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 was approximately $179.8 million and $212.2 million respectively. On August 1, 2022, Power Home Solar, LLC d/b/a Pink Energy filed a lawsuit in the Western District of Virginia against Generac Power Systems, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Generac Power”). The complaint alleges breaches of warranty, product liability, and other various causes of action against Generac Power relating to the sale and performance of certain clean energy equipment and seeks to recover damages, including consequential damages, that Power Home Solar allegedly incurred. The Company disputes the allegations in the complaint, including that Power Home Solar can seek consequential damages or amounts greater than the $25.0 million liability cap set forth in the agreement between the parties. On September 23, 2022, Generac Power moved to dismiss the complaint and compel arbitration consistent with the parties’ agreement. On October 7, 2022, Power Home Solar, LLC filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition in the Western District of North Carolina that identified Generac Power as one of its outstanding creditors. The petition listed a $17.7 million liability to Generac Power, which Power Home Solar characterized as disputed. The $17.7 million claim relates to equipment that Generac Power sold to Power Home Solar but was not paid for. After filing of the bankruptcy petition, the parties filed a joint motion to toll Power Home Solar’s deadline to respond to the motion to dismiss and all other pretrial deadlines to allow the bankruptcy trustee to evaluate the complaint, which motion was granted on October 11, 2022. The Company intends to vigorously defend against the claims in the complaint, whichever forum in which it may proceed. On October 28, 2022, Daniel Haak filed a putative class action lawsuit against Generac Power in the Middle District of Florida. The complaint alleges breaches of warranty, tort-based, and unjust enrichment claims against Generac Power relating to the sale and performance of certain clean energy products, and seeks to recover damages, including consequential damages, that the plaintiff and putative class allegedly incurred. The Company disputes the allegations and intends to vigorously defend against the claims in the complaint, including that plaintiff and the putative class can seek consequential damages. Five additional putative class actions were filed by consumers of Generac clean energy products between November 21, 2022 and March 21, 2023. These complaints assert claims for breaches of warranty, tort-based, statutory, and unjust enrichment claims against Generac Power or the Company and seek to recover damages, including consequential damages, that plaintiffs and putative class allegedly incurred. The cases are pending in the Eastern District of Wisconsin (Basler, et al. v. Generac Power Systems, Inc., Case No. 22-cv-01386-NJ and Dillon v. Generac Power Systems, Inc., Case No. 23-cv-00034-NJ), the Northern District of California (Moon v. Generac Power Systems, Inc. et al., Case No. 22-cv-09183-CRB), the Eastern District of California (Locatell v. Generac Power Systems, Inc., et al., Case No. 23-cv-00203-TLN), and the County of Wake, State of North Carolina (Baltimore, et al. v. Generac Power Systems, Inc., Case No. 23CV006415-910. Generac Power and the Company dispute the allegations and intend to vigorously defend against the claims in the complaints. Generac Power and the Company have filed motions to dismiss in the Haak, Basler, and Moon cases. On March 3, 2023, the plaintiff in the Moon case filed a motion (the “MDL Motion”) to transfer that case and others seeking relief for alleged harm purportedly arising in connection with a Generac clean energy product, to a proposed multidistrict litigation. Subsequently, the parties to each of the federal court actions filed motions to stay those actions until the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (“JPML”) determines whether to grant the MDL Motion. Those motions to stay were granted by the respective courts. On March 28, 2023, Generac Power and the plaintiffs in the other putative federal class actions each filed responses to the MDL Motion in which all agreed that the pending cases should be transferred to the proposed Multidistrict Litigation. A hearing on the MDL Motion is scheduled for May 25, 2023. On December 1, 2022, Oakland County Voluntary Employees’ Beneficiary Association and Oakland County Employees’ Retirement System filed a putative securities class action lawsuit against the Company and certain of its officers in the Eastern District of Wisconsin. On January 20, 2023, the California Ironworkers Field Pension Trust filed a related putative securities class action, also in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Both complaints assert claims for alleged violation of federal securities law related to disclosures of quality issues in Generac Power’s clean energy product, reliance on channel partners, and accounting for warranty reserves. The plaintiffs seek to represent a class of individuals who purchased or otherwise acquired common stock between April 29, 2021 and November 1, 2022 and seek unspecified compensatory damages and other relief on behalf of a purported class of purchasers of the Company’s stock. On March 14, 2023, the court consolidated the two actions. Motions to consolidate the putative class actions and to appoint a lead plaintiff have been filed and are pending with the court. The Company disputes the allegations and intends to vigorously defend against the claims in the consolidated class action. On February 3, 2023, a purported Company shareholder filed a shareholder derivative action against certain of the Company’s officers and directors in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. The complaint seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the Company and certain other relief, such as certain reforms to corporate governance practices. The complaint (in which the Company is named as a nominal defendant) generally alleges, among other things, breaches of fiduciary duties in connection with the oversight of the Company’s public statements and legal compliance, and that the Company was damaged as a result of the breaches of fiduciary duties, and the defendants were unjustly enriched. The complaint also alleges, among other things, violations of Sections 14(a), 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, and waste of corporate assets. On March 6, 2023, a second shareholder derivative action, making substantially similar allegations, was filed in the same court against certain of the Company’s officers and directors. The complaint (in which the Company is named as a nominal defendant) asserts a single claim for breach of fiduciary duty and seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the Company and certain other relief. Between March 20, 2023 and April 11, 2023, three shareholder derivative actions were filed in the Circuit Court of Waukesha County, Wisconsin. The complaints (in which the Company is named as a nominal defendant) assert breaches of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment, among other claims, based generally on alleged misrepresentations in the Company’s public statements and filings relating to the Company’s clean energy product, reliance on channel partners, and accounting for warranty reserves, among other allegations. Each complaint seeks unspecified damages on behalf of the Company and certain other relief, including certain corporate governance reforms. The Company disputes the allegations in the shareholder derivative actions and intends to vigorously defend against the claims in the complaints. On October 28, 2022, Generac Power received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, as a result of which the Company became aware of an enforcement investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). The subpoena requests similar documents and information provided by the Company to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") and the California Air Resources Board ("CARB") in response to civil document requests related to the Company’s compliance with emissions regulations for approximately 1.85 thousand portable generators produced by the Company in 2019 and 2020 and sold in 2020. The Company is cooperating with both the DOJ and the EPA and CARB inquiries. On November 30, 2022, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ("CPSC") notified the Company of its intention to recommend the imposition of a civil penalty for failing to timely submit a report under section 19(a)(4) of the Consumer Product Safety Act ("CPSA"), 15 U.S.C. § 2068(a)(4), in relation to certain portable generators that were subject to a voluntary recall previously announced on July 29, 2021. On May 3, 2023, the CPSC provisionally accepted the terms of a mutual settlement agreement between the CPSC and the Company. The parties entered into such agreement for settlement purposes only. The agreement does not constitute an admission by Generac or a determination by the CPSC that Generac violated the CPSA. The terms of the settlement agreement, once finalized, would require the Company to (i) abide by certain customary agency requirements regarding the ongoing commitment to the Company’s internal CPSA compliance practices and program, and (ii) pay a civil fine of $15.8 million. The settlement agreement with CPSC under its current terms will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In the opinion of management, it is presently unlikely that any legal or regulatory proceedings pending against or involving the Company will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, in many of these matters, it is inherently difficult to determine whether a loss is probable or to estimate the size or range of the possible loss given the variety and potential outcomes of actual and potential claims, the uncertainty of future rulings, the behavior or incentives of adverse parties, and other factors outside the control of the Company. Accordingly, the Company’s loss reserves may change from time to time, and actual losses could exceed the amounts reserved by an amount that could be material to the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows in any particular reporting period.

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