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Commitments and Contingencies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2024
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] |
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure | COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES Financial Commitments The Company provides indemnifications and other guarantees in the ordinary course of business, the terms of which range in duration and often are not explicitly defined. Specifically, the Company is occasionally required to provide letters of credit and bid and performance bonds to various customers, principally to act as security for retention levels related to casualty insurance policies and to guarantee the performance of subsidiaries that engage in export and domestic transactions. At March 31, 2024, the Company had outstanding performance and financial standby letters of credit, as well as outstanding bid and performance bonds, aggregating to $23.7 million. If any such letters of credit or bonds are called, the Company would be obligated to reimburse the issuer of the letter of credit or bond. The Company believes the likelihood of any currently outstanding letter of credit or bond being called is remote. Product 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 country in which the Company does business, with warranty periods generally ranging from one to five 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 (i) the number of units under warranty, (ii) historical and anticipated rates of warranty claims and (iii) costs per claim. The Company periodically assesses the adequacy of its recorded warranty liabilities and adjusts the amounts as necessary. The following table summarizes the changes in the Company’s warranty liabilities during the three months ended March 31, 2024 and 2023:
(in millions) | 2024 |  | 2023
Balance at January 1 | $ | 9.6 |  |  | $ | 9.3 |
Provisions to expense | 2.2 |  |  | 1.8 |
Acquisitions | — |  |  | 0.1 |
Payments | (2.0) |  |  | (2.0) |
Balance at March 31 | $ | 9.8 |  |  | $ | 9.2 |
Legal Proceedings The Company is subject to various claims, including pending and possible legal actions for product liability and other damages, and other matters arising in the ordinary course of the Company’s business. On a quarterly basis, the Company reviews uninsured material legal claims against the Company and accrues for the costs of such claims as appropriate in the exercise of management’s best judgment and experience. However, due to a lack of factual information available to the Company about a claim, or the procedural stage of a claim, it may not be possible for the Company to reasonably assess either the probability of a favorable or unfavorable outcome of the claim or to reasonably estimate the amount of loss should there be an unfavorable outcome. Therefore, for many claims, the Company cannot reasonably estimate a range of loss. The Company believes, based on current knowledge and after consultation with counsel, that the outcome of such claims and actions will not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations or financial condition. 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, financial condition or cash flow. Hearing Loss Litigation The Company has been sued for monetary damages by firefighters claiming that exposure to the Company’s sirens impaired their hearing and the sirens are therefore defective. Between 1999 and 2013, 40 cases were filed on behalf of a total of 2,816 plaintiffs in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Illinois. The trial of the first 27 of these plaintiffs’ claims occurred in 2008, whereby a Cook County jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the Company. In 2009, a trial was held on behalf of nine Chicago firefighter plaintiffs and concluded with a verdict for the plaintiffs in varying amounts totaling $0.4 million. Following appeals, the Company satisfied the judgments, resulting in the final dismissal of the cases. A third consolidated trial involving eight Chicago firefighter plaintiffs occurred in November 2011. The jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the Company. Thereafter, the trial court scheduled a fourth consolidated trial involving three firefighter plaintiffs. Prior to trial, the claims of two of the firefighter plaintiffs were dismissed, and on December 17, 2012, the jury entered a complete defense verdict for the Company. On December 20, 2021, the parties executed a settlement agreement to resolve claims of approximately 462 firefighters still involved in the litigation, agreeing to pay a lump sum of $0.2 million based upon an assessment of firefighters who met minimal bilateral hearing loss standards. The estimated settlement amount was accrued by the Company. The settlement agreement did not require the payment of any attorney fees by the Company and provided that plaintiffs’ attorney would withdraw from representing firefighters who did not agree to the settlement. In July 2022, the Company issued the settlement payment for eligible plaintiffs who submitted a release. The claims of all other eligible plaintiffs were dismissed for want of prosecution on August 5, 2022. The Company also filed motions to dismiss cases involving firefighters who worked for fire departments located outside of Illinois based on improper venue. On February 24, 2017, the Circuit Court of Cook County dismissed the cases of 1,770 such firefighter plaintiffs. In 2017, the Company entered into a global settlement agreement (the “2017 Settlement Agreement”) with two attorneys who represented approximately 1,090 of these plaintiffs offering to pay $700 per plaintiff to settle these cases, and 717 plaintiffs accepted this offer as a final settlement. The 2017 Settlement Agreement did not require the payment of any attorney fees by the Company. The attorneys representing these plaintiffs agreed to withdraw from representing plaintiffs who did not respond to the settlement offer. It is the Company’s position that the non-settling plaintiffs who failed to timely refile their cases are barred from doing so by the statute of limitations. The Company was also sued on this issue outside of the Cook County, Illinois venue. Between 2007 and 2009, lawsuits involving 71 plaintiffs were filed in the Court of Common Pleas, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania. Three of these cases were dismissed pursuant to pretrial motions, one case was voluntarily dismissed, and others were settled for nominal sums. Three trials were held in these cases. In the first trial, a jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff, finding that the Company’s siren was not defectively designed but that the Company negligently constructed the siren. The jury awarded damages in an amount less than $0.1 million. In 2010, a jury returned a defense verdict for the Company as to the claims of nine plaintiffs. In a third trial, the jury returned a defense verdict for the Company as to the claims of nine plaintiffs. Following the defense verdicts in the last two Philadelphia trials, in order to avoid the inconvenience, uncertainty and distraction of the lawsuits, the Company entered into a global settlement agreement (the “2010 Settlement Agreement”) on behalf of 1,125 claimants (the “Claimants”). The 2010 Settlement Agreement provided that the Company pay 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 2010 Settlement Agreement. On April 22, 2011, the Company confirmed that the terms and conditions of the 2010 Settlement Agreement had been met and made an adjusted 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. The Company generally denies the allegations made in the lawsuits and denies that its products caused any injuries to the Claimants. From 2007 through 2009, firefighters also brought hearing loss claims against the Company in New Jersey, Missouri, Maryland and Kings County, New York, all of which were dismissed prior to trial. In 2012, 20 new cases were filed in Philadelphia on behalf of 20 Philadelphia firefighters against various defendants in addition to the Company. Five of these cases were dismissed. The first trial involving these cases occurred in December 2014 and involved three firefighter plaintiffs. The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Company. Following the trial, the parties agreed to settle cases involving seven firefighter plaintiffs for nominal amounts. In January 2015, plaintiffs’ attorneys filed two new complaints in Philadelphia on behalf of approximately 70 additional firefighter plaintiffs. One of the complaints, which involved 11 firefighter plaintiffs from the District of Columbia, was removed to federal court in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed all claims in that case on May 31, 2016. The Company thereafter moved to recover fees and costs in this case, asserting that plaintiffs’ counsel failed to properly investigate the claims prior to filing suit. The Court granted the motion, awarding $0.1 million to the Company, and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed the decision awarding fees and costs to the Company. The Court granted the Company’s motion to dismiss the remaining out-of-state firefighters. In 2015, another nine new cases involving a total of 193 firefighters were filed in Philadelphia. The court dismissed all claims filed by out-of-state firefighters, a decision affirmed by the appellate court. In 2016 and 2017, plaintiffs filed new cases involving a total of 155 Philadelphia firefighters in Philadelphia state court, and the cases were transferred to the mass tort program in Philadelphia for pretrial purposes. In November 2017, a trial involving one Philadelphia firefighter occurred, and the jury returned a verdict in favor of the Company. In 2014, an action was brought in the Court of Common Pleas of Erie County, Pennsylvania on behalf of 61 firefighters against various defendants in addition to the Company. Also in 2014, 20 lawsuits involving a total of 193 Buffalo Fire Department firefighters were filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, Erie County. In 2015, the Company was served with a complaint filed in Union County, New Jersey state court, involving 34 New Jersey firefighters. In 2016, nine cases were filed in Suffolk County, Massachusetts state court, naming the Company as a defendant. These cases involved 194 firefighters who lived and worked in the Boston area. In 2017, plaintiffs’ attorneys filed additional hearing loss cases in Florida. Prior to a dismissal of these cases pursuant to the Tolling Agreement discussed below, there was a total of 1084 firefighters involved in these cases. In 2013, cases were filed in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania on behalf of 247 plaintiff firefighters from Pittsburgh and against various defendants including the Company. In 2016, cases were filed against an additional 19 Pittsburgh firefighters. After the Company filed pretrial motions, the Court dismissed claims of 55 Pittsburgh firefighter plaintiffs. Prior to the first scheduled trial, the Court granted the Company’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed all claims asserted by plaintiff firefighters involved in this trial. Following an appeal by the plaintiff firefighters, the appellate court affirmed this dismissal. A jury rendered a verdict in favor of the Company in 2017. In 2017, five cases involving 70 firefighter plaintiffs were filed in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania. A second trial involving Pittsburgh firefighters began in 2018. At the outset of this trial, plaintiffs’ attorneys, who represent all firefighters who filed cases in Allegheny County, Philadelphia, Buffalo, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Florida requested that the Company consider settlement of various cases. In March 2018, the parties agreed in principle on a framework (the “Settlement Framework”) to resolve hearing loss claims and cases in all jurisdictions involved in the hearing loss litigation except Cook County, Illinois and Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania and a case involving one firefighter in New York City, cases being handled by different attorneys. The Company later settled the cases in Lackawanna County and settled the case involving one firefighter in New York City for nominal amounts. In order to minimize the parties’ respective legal costs and expenses during this settlement process, on July 5, 2018, the parties entered into a tolling agreement (the “Tolling Agreement”). Pursuant to the Tolling Agreement, counsel for the settling firefighters agreed to dismiss the pending lawsuits in all jurisdictions except for the Allegheny County (Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania cases, and the Company agreed to a tolling of any statute of limitations applicable to the dismissed cases. The Tolling Agreement continued in place until the parties executed a global settlement agreement (the “2019 Settlement Agreement”) on November 4, 2019. After execution of the 2019 Settlement Agreement, the Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) cases were dismissed. Pursuant to the 2019 Settlement Agreement, the Company would pay $700 to each firefighter who filed a lawsuit and is eligible to be part of the settlement and $300 to each firefighter who has not yet filed a case and is eligible to be part of the settlement. To be eligible for settlement, among other things, firefighters must provide proof that they have high frequency noise-induced hearing loss. There are approximately 2,160 firefighters whose claims may be considered as part of this settlement, including approximately 921 firefighters who have ongoing filed lawsuits. The 2019 Settlement Agreement requires plaintiffs’ attorneys to withdraw from representing firefighters who elect not to participate in the settlement and does not include the payment of any attorney fees by the Company. Pursuant to the 2019 Settlement Agreement, the parties are now in the process of determining how many of the approximately 2,160 firefighters will be eligible to participate in the settlement. As of March 31, 2024, the Company has recognized an estimated liability for the potential settlement amount under the Settlement Framework. While it is reasonably possible that the ultimate resolution of this matter may result in a loss in excess of the amount accrued, the incremental loss is not expected to be material.

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