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Contingencies | 12 Months Ended
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Dec. 31, 2015
Contingencies |
Contingencies | 12. Contingencies Asbestos The Company is a defendant in numerous lawsuits alleging bodily injury and death as a result of exposure to asbestos. From 1948 to 1958, one of the Company's former business units commercially produced and sold approximately $40 million of a high-temperature, calcium-silicate based pipe and block insulation material containing asbestos. The Company sold its insulation business unit at the end of April 1958. The typical asbestos personal injury lawsuit alleges various theories of liability, including negligence, gross negligence and strict liability and seeks compensatory and, in some cases, punitive damages in various amounts (herein referred to as "asbestos claims"). The following table shows the approximate number of plaintiffs and claimants who had asbestos claims pending against the Company at the beginning of each listed year, the number of claims disposed of during that year, the year’s filings and the claims pending at the end of each listed year (eliminating duplicate filings):
|  | 2015 |  | 2014 |  | 2013 |
Pending at beginning of year |  | 2,260 |  | 2,620 |  | 2,610 |
Disposed |  | 1,460 |  | 1,830 |  | 1,700 |
Filed |  | 1,280 |  | 1,470 |  | 1,710 |
Pending at end of year |  | 2,080 |  | 2,260 |  | 2,620 |
Based on an analysis of the lawsuits pending as of December 31, 2015, approximately 82% of plaintiffs either do not specify the monetary damages sought, or in the case of court filings, claim an amount sufficient to invoke the jurisdictional minimum of the trial court. Approximately 11% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages above the jurisdictional minimum up to, and including, $15 million or less, and 7% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages greater than $15 million but less than or equal to $100 million. As indicated by the foregoing summary, current pleading practice permits considerable variation in the assertion of monetary damages. The Company’s experience resolving hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims and lawsuits over an extended period demonstrates that the monetary relief alleged in a complaint bears little relevance to a claim’s merits or disposition value. Rather, the amount potentially recoverable is determined by such factors as the type and severity of the plaintiff’s asbestos disease, the plaintiff’s medical history and exposure to other disease-causing agents, the product identification evidence against the Company and other co-defendants, the defenses available to the Company and other co-defendants, the specific jurisdiction in which the claim is made, and the plaintiff’s firm representing the claimant. In addition to the pending claims set forth above, the Company has claims-handling agreements in place with many plaintiffs’ counsel throughout the country. These agreements require evaluation and negotiation regarding whether particular claimants qualify under the criteria established by such agreements. The criteria for such claims include verification of a compensable illness and a reasonable probability of exposure to a product manufactured by the Company's former business unit during its manufacturing period ending in 1958. The Company has also been a defendant in other asbestos-related lawsuits or claims involving maritime workers, medical monitoring claimants, co-defendants and property damage claimants. Based upon its past experience, the Company believes that these categories of lawsuits and claims will not involve any material liability and they are not included in the above description of pending matters or in the following description of disposed matters. Since receiving its first asbestos claim, the Company as of December 31, 2015, has disposed of the asbestos claims of approximately 396,000 plaintiffs and claimants at an average indemnity payment per claim of approximately $9,200. The Company’s asbestos indemnity payments have varied on a per claim basis, and are expected to continue to vary considerably over time. Asbestos-related cash payments for 2015, 2014 and 2013 were $138 million, $148 million, and $158 million, respectively. The Company’s cash payments per claim disposed (inclusive of legal costs) were approximately $95,000, $81,000 and $93,000 for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. As discussed above, the Company’s objective is to achieve, where possible, resolution of asbestos claims pursuant to claims-handling agreements. Failure of claimants to meet certain medical and product exposure criteria in the Company’s administrative claims handling agreements has generally reduced the number of claims that would otherwise have been received by the Company in the tort system. In addition, certain court orders and legislative acts have reduced or eliminated the number of claims that the Company otherwise would have received by the Company in the tort system. These developments generally have had the effect of increasing the Company’s per-claim average indemnity payment over time. Beginning with the initial liability of $975 million established in 1993, the Company has accrued a total of approximately $4.9 billion through 2015, before insurance recoveries, for its asbestos-related liability. The Company’s estimates of its liability have been significantly affected by, among other factors, the volatility of asbestos-related litigation in the United States, the significant number of co-defendants that have filed for bankruptcy, the inherent uncertainty of future disease incidence and claiming patterns against the Company, the significant expansion of the defendants that are now sued in this litigation, and the continuing changes in the extent to which these defendants participate in the resolution of cases in which the Company is also a defendant. The Company continues to monitor trends that may affect its ultimate liability and analyze the developments and variables likely to affect the resolution of pending and future asbestos claims against the Company. The material components of the Company’s accrued liability are determined by the Company in connection with its annual comprehensive legal review and consist of the following estimates, to the extent it is probable that such liabilities have been incurred and can be reasonably estimated: (i) the liability for asbestos claims already asserted against the Company; (ii) the liability for asbestos claims not yet asserted against the Company; and (iii) the legal defense costs estimated to be incurred in connection with the claims already asserted and those claims the Company believes will be asserted. As noted above, the Company conducts a comprehensive legal review of its asbestos-related liabilities and costs annually in connection with finalizing and reporting its annual results of operations, unless significant changes in trends or new developments warrant an earlier review. As part of its annual comprehensive legal review, the Company provides historical claims filing data to a third party with expertise in determining the impact of disease incidence and mortality on future filing trends to develop information to assist the Company in estimating the total number of future claims to be filed. The Company uses this estimate of total future claims, along with an estimation of disposition costs and related legal costs as inputs to develop its best estimate of probable liability. If the results of the annual comprehensive legal review indicate that the existing amount of the accrued liability is lower (higher) than its reasonably estimable asbestos-related costs, then the Company will record an appropriate charge (credit) to the Company’s results of operations to increase (decrease) the accrued liability. The significant assumptions underlying the material components of the Company’s accrual are:
| a) |  | settlements will continue to be limited almost exclusively to claimants who were exposed to the Company’s asbestos‑containing insulation prior to its exit from that business in 1958;
| b) |  | claims will continue to be resolved primarily under the Company’s administrative claims agreements or on terms comparable to those set forth in those agreements;
| c) |  | the incidence of serious asbestos‑related disease cases and claiming patterns against the Company for such cases do not change materially;
| d) |  | the Company is substantially able to defend itself successfully at trial and on appeal;
| e) |  | the number and timing of additional co‑defendant bankruptcies do not change significantly the assets available to participate in the resolution of cases in which the Company is a defendant; and
| f) |  | co‑defendants with substantial resources and assets continue to participate significantly in the resolution of future asbestos lawsuits and claims.
As described in Note 1, the Company revised its method for estimating its asbestos-related liabilities in connection with finalizing and reporting its restated results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 and concluded that an accrual in the amount of $817 million and $939 million, respectively, was required. These amounts have not been discounted for the time value of money. The application of the revised method also resulted in charges of $16 million, $46 million and $12 million for the years ending December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The Company believes it is reasonably possible that it will incur a loss for its asbestos-related liabilities in excess of the amount currently recognized, which is $817 million as of December 31, 2015. The Company estimates that reasonably possible losses could be as high as $950 million. This estimate of additional reasonably possible loss reflects a legal judgment about the number and cost of potential future claims and legal costs. The Company believes this estimate is consistent with the level of variability it has experienced when comparing actual results to recent near-term projections. However, it is also possible that the ultimate asbestos-related liability could be above this estimate. The Company expects a significant majority of the total number of claims to be received in the next ten years. This timeframe appropriately reflects the mortality of current and expected claimants in light of the Company’s sale of its insulation business unit in 1958. As noted above, the Company’s asbestos-related liability is based on a projection of new claims that will eventually be filed against the Company and the estimated average disposition cost of these claims and related legal costs. Changes in the significant assumptions noted above have the potential to impact these key factors, which are critical to the estimation of the Company’s asbestos-related liability significantly. Other Matters The Company conducted an internal investigation into conduct in certain of its overseas operations that may have violated the anti-bribery provisions of the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (the “FCPA”), the FCPA’s books and records and internal controls provisions, the Company’s own internal policies, and various local laws. In October 2012, the Company voluntarily disclosed these matters to the U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). On July 18, 2013, the Company received a letter from the DOJ indicating that it presently did not intend to take any enforcement action and is closing its inquiry into the matter. As disclosed in previous periods, the Company is presently unable to predict the duration, scope or result of an investigation by the SEC, if any, or whether the SEC will commence any legal action. The SEC has a broad range of civil sanctions under the FCPA and other laws and regulations including, but not limited to, injunctive relief, disgorgement, penalties, and modifications to business practices. The Company could also be subject to investigation and sanctions outside the United States. While the Company is currently unable to quantify the impact of any potential sanctions or remedial measures, it does not expect such actions will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s liquidity, results of operations or financial condition. Other litigation is pending against the Company, in many cases involving ordinary and routine claims incidental to the business of the Company and in others presenting allegations that are non-routine and involve compensatory, punitive or treble damage claims as well as other types of relief. The Company records a liability for such matters when it is both probable that the liability has been incurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Recorded amounts are reviewed and adjusted to reflect changes in the factors upon which the estimates are based, including additional information, negotiations, settlements and other events.

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