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Commitments And Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Sep. 30, 2015
Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract] |
Legal Matters | 17. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Legal Matters From time to time we are a party to various claims, lawsuits and other legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. We maintain various insurance coverages to minimize financial risk associated with these proceedings. None of these proceedings, separately or in the aggregate, are expected to have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operation s or cash flows. With respect to all such proceedings, we record reserves when it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. We expense routine legal costs related to these proceedings as they are i ncurred. The following is a discussion of our significant legal matters: Ward Transformer Site Private Action In April 2009, Carolina Power and Light Company and Consolidation Coal Company filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District o f North Carolina (Western Division) against a number of entities, including one of our subsidiaries, to recover costs to remove Polychlorinated Byphenyls (“PCB”) contamination at Ward Transformer, an electric transformer resale and reconditioning facility located in Raleigh, North Carolina (the “Private Action”). Plaintiffs had been ordered under a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) to clean up the onsite contamination, including the groundwater underneath the f acility, and were seeking to recover costs associated with the clean-up from other potentially responsible parties (“PRPs”). During the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, the parties to this matter reached an agreement in principle to settle the Company’s exposure. The agreed upon settlement is fully reserved in our financial statements at September 30, 2015. The parties are finalizing release and settlement documentation and expect to complete this during the second quarter of fiscal 2016. EPA Action Contamination outside of and downstream from the Ward Transformer site is not subject to the Private Action. The EPA has not yet assessed costs for that portion of the remediation, and has not entered into any settlement agreement with any party to begin clean-up. While the costs to remediate the offsite conditions remain unknown, certain of the parties with larger exposure have agreed to undertake the clean-up. During the first quarter of fiscal year 2016, these parties agreed in principle to release se veral types of PRPs from liability for a nominal amount based on their limited involvement in the site. We believe the Company will be included in the settlement group and will be released from the matter for a nominal amount. Therefore, as of September 30, 2015, we had not recorded any additional reserve for this matter. Hamilton Wage and Hour The Company is a defendant in three wage-and-hour suits seeking class action certification that were filed between August 29, 2012 and June 24, 2013, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Each of these cases is among several others filed by Plaintiffs’ attorney against contractors working in the Port Arthur, Texas Motiva plant on various projects over the last few years. The claims are based on alleged failure to compensate for time spent bussing to and from a work site, donning safety wear and other activities. In a separate earlier case based on the same allegations, a federal district court ruled that the time spent traveling on the busses is not compensable. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court’s ruling, and the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review plaintiffs’ appeal of the Fifth Circuit dismissal. To date, no other plaintiffs have joined the suit, and the statute of limitations precludes any new claimants from seeking recovery against the Company, as the Company’s employees stopped working at the project over two years ago. Due to the absence of any exposure beyond the named plaintiffs, and the limited exposure for any time spent bussing into the facility, the Company expects any payments associated with the settlement of this matter would not result in a material impact on the company’s results of operations or financial position. As such, we have not recorded a reserve for this matter as of September 30, 2015. Risk-Management We retain the risk for workers’ compensation, employer’s liability, automobile liability, constructions defects, general liability and employee group health claims, as well as pollution coverage, resulting from uninsured deductibles per accident or occurrence which are generally subject to annual aggregate limits. Our general liability program provides coverage for bodily injury and property damage. In many cases, we insure third parties, including general contractors, as additional insureds under our insurance policies. Losses up to the deductible amounts, or losses that are not covered under our policies, are accr ued based upon our known claims incurred and an estimate of claims incurred but not reported. As a result, many of our claims are effectively self-insured. Many claims against our insurance are in the form of litigation. At September 30, 2015, we had $4,518 accrued for insurance liabilities. We are also subject to construction defect liabilities, primarily within our Residential segment. As of September 30, 2015, we had $464 reserved for these claims. Because the reserves ar e based on judgment and estimates, and involve variables that are inherently uncertain, such as the outcome of litigation and an assessment of insurance coverage, there can be no assurance that the ultimate liability will not be higher or lower than such e stimates or that the timing of payments will not create liquidity issues for the Company. Some of the underwriters of our casualty insurance program require us to post letters of credit as collateral. This is common in the insurance industry. To date, w e have not had a situation where an underwriter has had reasonable cause to effect payment under a letter of credit. At September 30, 2015, $6,347 of our outstanding letters of credit was utilized to collateralize our insurance p rogram. Surety As of September 30, 2015, the estimated cost to complete our bonded projects was approximately $85,860. We evaluate our bonding requirements on a regular basis, including the terms offered by our sureties. We believe the bonding capacity presently provided by our current sureties is adequate for our current operations an d will be adequate for our operations for the foreseeable future. Posting letters of credit in favor of our sureties reduces the borrowing availability under our 2012 Credit Facility. Other Commitments and Contingencies Some of our customers and vendors require us to post letters of credit as a means of guaranteeing performance under our contracts and ensuring payment by us to subcontractors and vendors. If our customer has reasonable cause to effect payment under a letter of credit, we would be required to reimburse our creditor for the letter of credit. At September 30, 2015, $571 of our outstanding letters of credit were to collateralize our vendors. F rom time to time, we may enter into firm purchase commitments for materials such as copper or aluminum wire which we expect to use in the ordinary course of business. These commitments are typically for terms of less than one year and require us to buy min imum quantities of materials at specific intervals at a fixed price over the term. As of September 30, 2015, we had no such commitments.

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