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Commitments
 3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2012
Commitments [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS

9. COMMITMENTS

Standby Letters of Credit

At March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company had outstanding standby letters of credit aggregating $32.5 million and $34.2 million, respectively, principally to act as security for retention levels related to casualty insurance policies and to guarantee the performance of subsidiaries that engage in export transactions to non-U.S. governments and municipalities.

Warranties

The Company issues product performance warranties to customers with the sale of its products. The specific terms and conditions of these warranties vary depending upon the product sold and the country in which the Company conducts business, with warranty periods generally ranging from one to ten years. The Company estimates the costs that may be incurred under its basic limited warranty and records a liability in the amount of such costs at the time the sale of the related product is recognized. Factors that affect the Company’s warranty liability include the number of units under warranty from time to time, historical and anticipated rates of warranty claims, and costs per claim. The Company periodically assesses the adequacy of its recorded warranty liabilities and adjusts the amounts as necessary.

Changes in the Company’s warranty liabilities in the three-month periods ended March 31, 2012 and 2011 were as follows:

 

                 
($ in millions)   2012     2011  

Balance at January 1

   $ 7.2     $ 5.7  

Provisions to expense

     2.0       2.3  

Actual costs incurred

     (1.7 )      (2.0 ) 
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

Balance at March 31

   $ 7.5     $ 6.0  
   

 

 

    

 

 

  

Environmental Liabilities

The Company retained an environmental consultant to conduct an environmental risk assessment at its Pearland, Texas facility. The facility, which was previously used by the Company’s discontinued Pauluhn business, manufactured marine, offshore and industrial lighting products. While the Company has not completed the risk assessment analysis, it appears probable the site will require remediation. As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, $2.1 million and $2.2 million, respectively, of reserves related to the environmental remediation are included in the liabilities of discontinued operations. The Company’s estimate may change in the near term as more information becomes available; however, the costs are not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations, financial position or liquidity.

Legal Proceedings

The Company is subject to various claims, other pending and possible legal actions for product liability and other damages, and other matters arising out of the conduct of the Company’s business. The Company believes, based on current knowledge and after consultation with counsel, that the outcome of such claims and actions will not have an adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial position or results of operations. However, in the event of unexpected future developments, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of such matters, if unfavorable, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations.

 

The Company has been sued by firefighters seeking damages claiming that exposure to the Company’s sirens has impaired their hearing and that the sirens are therefore defective. There were 33 cases filed during the period 1999-2004, involving a total of 2,443 plaintiffs, in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. These cases involved more than 1,800 firefighter plaintiffs from locations outside of Chicago. Beginning in 2009, six additional cases were filed in Cook County, involving 299 Pennsylvania firefighter plaintiffs. The trial of the first 27 of these plaintiffs’ claims occurred in 2008, when a Cook County jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the Company. An additional 40 Chicago firefighter plaintiffs were selected for trial in 2009. Plaintiffs’ counsel later moved to reduce the number of plaintiffs from 40 to 9. The trial for these nine plaintiffs concluded with a verdict returned against the Company and for the plaintiffs in varying amounts totaling $0.4 million. The Company is appealing this verdict. A third consolidated trial involving 8 Chicago firefighter plaintiffs occurred during November 2011. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the Company at the conclusion of this trial. Following this last trial, the Court advised the parties that it was considering the possibility of a bifurcated class action trial in which it would consolidate claims of all Chicago Fire Department firefighters and conduct a trial on the issue of whether the Company’s sirens are defective and unreasonably dangerous. On March 12, 2012, after considering briefs and argument submitted by the parties, the Court entered an order certifying a class of the remaining Chicago Fire Department firefighter plaintiffs for trial on certain issues, including whether the Company’s sirens were defective and unreasonably dangerous. The Company has appealed this ruling. The court has scheduled this trial for October 1, 2012.

The Company has also been sued on this issue outside of the Cook County, Illinois venue. Most of these cases have involved lawsuits filed by a single attorney in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. During 2007, through 2009, this attorney filed a total of 71 lawsuits, involving 71 plaintiffs in this jurisdiction. Three of these cases were dismissed pursuant to pretrial motions filed by the Company. Another case was voluntarily dismissed. Prior to trial in four cases, the Company paid nominal sums, which included reimbursements of expenses, to obtain dismissals. Three trials occurred in Philadelphia involving these cases. The first trial involving one of these plaintiffs occurred in 2010, when the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff. In particular, the jury found that the Company’s siren was not defectively designed, but that the Company negligently constructed the siren. The jury awarded damages in the amount of $0.1 million, which was subsequently reduced to $0.08 million. The Company appealed this verdict. Another trial, involving 9 Philadelphia firefighter plaintiffs, also occurred in 2010 when the jury returned a defense verdict for the Company as to all claims and all plaintiffs involved in that trial. The third trial, involving nine Philadelphia firefighter plaintiffs, was completed during 2010 when the jury returned a defense verdict for the Company as to all claims and all plaintiffs involved in that trial.

Following defense verdicts in the last two Philadelphia trials, the Company negotiated settlements with respect to all remaining filed cases in Philadelphia at that time, as well as other firefighter claimants represented by the attorney who filed the Philadelphia cases. On January 4, 2011, the Company entered into a Global Settlement Agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the law firm of the attorney representing the Philadelphia claimants, on behalf of 1,125 claimants the firm represents (the “Claimants”) and who have asserted product claims against the Company (the “Claims”). Three hundred and eight of the Claimants had lawsuits pending against the Company in Cook County, Illinois.

The Settlement Agreement, as amended, provided that the Company pay (the “Settlement Payment”) a total amount of $3.8 million to settle the Claims (including the costs, fees and other expenses of the law firm in connection with its representation of the claimants), subject to certain terms, conditions and procedures set forth in the Settlement Agreement. In order for the Company to be required to make the Settlement Payment: (i) each claimant who agreed to settle his or her claims had to sign a release acceptable to the Company (a “Release”); (ii) each Claimant who agreed to the settlement and who was a plaintiff in a lawsuit, had to dismiss his or her lawsuit, with prejudice; (iii) by April 29, 2011, at least 93% of the claimants identified in Appendix A to the Settlement Agreement must have agreed to settle their claims and provide a signed Release to the Company; and (iv) the law firm had to withdraw from representing any claimants who did not agree to the settlement, including those who filed lawsuits. If the conditions to the settlement set forth in the Settlement Agreement were met, but less than 100% of the Claimants agreed to settle their Claims and sign a Release, the Settlement Payment would be reduced by the percentage of Claimants who did not agree to the settlement.

On April 22, 2011, the Company confirmed that the terms and conditions of the Settlement Agreement had been met and made a payment of $3.6 million to conclude the settlement. The amount was based upon the Company’s receipt of 1,069 signed releases provided by claimants, which was 95.02% of all claimants identified in the Settlement Agreement.

The Company generally denies the allegations made in the claims and lawsuits and denies that its products caused any injuries to the Claimants. Nonetheless, to avoid the expense and uncertainty of further litigation, the Company entered into the Settlement Agreement for the purpose of minimizing its expenses, including legal fees, and the inconvenience and distraction of the claims and lawsuits.

During April 2012, 12 new cases were filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. These cases were filed on behalf of 12 Philadelphia firefighters and involve various defendants in addition to the Company.

 

Firefighters have brought hearing loss claims against the Company in jurisdictions other than Philadelphia and Cook County. In particular, cases have been filed in New Jersey, Missouri, Maryland, and New York. All of those cases, however, were dismissed prior to trial, including four cases in the Supreme Court of Kings County, New York which were dismissed upon the Company’s motion in 2008. The trial court subsequently denied reconsideration of its ruling. On appeal, the appellate court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of these cases. Plaintiffs’ attorneys have threatened to file additional lawsuits. The Company intends to vigorously defend all of these lawsuits, if filed.

Federal Signal’s ongoing negotiations with CNA over insurance coverage on these claims have resulted in reimbursements of a portion of the Company’s defense costs. In the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company recorded $0.8 million of reimbursements from CNA as a reduction of corporate operating expenses of which $0.8 million has been received as of December 31, 2011.

On July 29, 2011, Neology, Inc. filed a complaint against the Company for alleged patent infringements in the U.S. District Court of Delaware. The lawsuit demands that the Company cease manufacturing, marketing, importing or selling Radio Frequency Identification systems and products that allegedly infringe certain specified patents owned by Neology, and also demands compensation for past alleged infringement. On December 2, 2011, Neology filed a motion for preliminary injunction, requesting that the court enter an order preliminarily enjoining the Company from further alleged infringement of certain Neology patents. The court has scheduled a hearing on the motion on May 1, 2012. The Company has denied the allegations in the complaint and the motion for preliminary injunction and intends to vigorously defend itself in this litigation.