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Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

11. Commitments and Contingencies

Leases

The Company leases certain equipment and facilities under operating leases, of which rent expense was approximately $3.3 million, $3.3 million and $4.5 million for the years ended September 30, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively. Rent expense for the Company’s operating leases, which generally have escalating rentals over the term of the lease, is recorded using the straight-line method over the initial lease term whereby an equal amount of rent expense is attributed to each period during the term of the lease, regardless of when actual payments are made. Generally, this results in rent expense in excess of cash payments during the early years of a lease and rent expense less than cash payments in the later years. The difference between rent expense recognized and actual rental payments is included in other long-term liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets.

Future minimum annual lease obligations as of September 30, 2017 are as follows:

2018	$	2,967
2019		2,797
2020		2,841
2021		2,830
2022		2,784
Thereafter		24,477
Total future minimum lease obligations	$	38,696

Legal Matters

Texas Patron Tax

In 2015, the Company reached a settlement with the State of Texas over the payment of the state’s Patron Tax on adult club customers. To resolve the issue of taxes owed, the Company agreed to pay $10.0 million in equal monthly installments of $119,000, without interest, over 84 months, beginning in June 2015, for all but two nonsettled locations. The Company agreed to remit the Patron Tax on a monthly basis, based on the current rate of $5 per customer. For accounting purposes, the Company has discounted the $10.0 million at an imputed interest rate of 9.6%, establishing a net present value for the settlement of $7.2 million. As a consequence, the Company has recorded an $8.2 million pre-tax gain for the third quarter ending June 30, 2015, representing the difference between the $7.2 million and the amount previously accrued for the tax.

In March 2017, the Company settled with the State of Texas for one of the two remaining unsettled Patron Tax locations. To resolve the issue of taxes owed, the Company agreed to pay a total of $687,815 with $195,815 paid at the time the settlement agreement was executed followed by 60 equal monthly installments of $8,200 without interest.

The aggregate balance of Patron Tax settlement liability amounted to $5.6 million and $6.2 million as of September 30, 2017 and 2016, respectively, and is included in long-term debt in the consolidated balance sheets.

New York Settlement

Filed in 2009, the case claimed Rick’s Cabaret New York misclassified entertainers as independent contractors. Plaintiffs sought minimum wage for the hours they danced and return of certain fees. RCI Entertainment (New York), Inc. and Peregrine Enterprises, Inc. maintained the dancers were properly classified, and alternatively, amounts earned were well in excess of the minimum wage and should satisfy any obligations.

On April 1, 2015, we and our subsidiaries, RCI Entertainment (New York), Inc. and Peregrine Enterprises, Inc., entered into an agreement to settle in full a New York based federal wage and hour class and collective action filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. On September 22, 2015, the Court granted final approval of the settlement. Under the terms of the agreement, Peregrine Enterprises, Inc. was to make up to $15.0 million available to class members and their attorneys. The actual amount paid was determined based on the number of class members responding by the end of a two-month notice period which ended on December 4, 2015. Unclaimed checks or payments reverted back to Peregrine at that time. Based on the current schedule, an initial payment for attorneys’ fees of $1,833,333 was made in October 2015, with two subsequent payments of $1,833,333 each being made in equal annual installments. As part of the settlement, RCIHH was required to guarantee the obligations of RCI Entertainment (New York), Inc. and Peregrine Enterprises, Inc. under the settlement.

The Company expensed $11.1 million during the year ended September 30, 2015 as the final liability for its obligations under the settlement, which was included in other charges, net in the consolidated statement of income. Of this amount, $5.6 million was paid to entertainers and $5.5 million has been or will be paid to the lawyers. As of September 30, 2017 and 2016, the Company has a remaining balance of $37,000 and $2.7 million, respectively, recorded in accrued liabilities on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.

Indemnity Insurance Corporation

As previously reported, the Company and its subsidiaries were insured under a liability policy issued by Indemnity Insurance Corporation, RRG (“IIC”) through October 25, 2013. The Company and its subsidiaries changed insurance companies on that date.

On November 7, 2013, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware entered a Rehabilitation and Injunction Order (“Rehabilitation Order”), which declared IIC impaired, insolvent and in an unsafe condition and placed IIC under the supervision of the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Delaware (“Commissioner”) in her capacity as receiver (“Receiver”). The Rehabilitation Order empowered the Commissioner to rehabilitate IIC through a variety of means, including gathering assets and marshaling those assets as necessary. Further, the order stayed or abated pending lawsuits involving IIC as the insurer until May 6, 2014.

On April 10, 2014, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware entered a Liquidation and Injunction Order With Bar Date (“Liquidation Order”), which ordered the liquidation of IIC and terminated all insurance policies or contracts of insurance issued by IIC. The Liquidation Order further ordered that all claims against IIC must have been filed with the Receiver before the close of business on January 16, 2015 and that all pending lawsuits involving IIC as the insurer were further stayed or abated until October 7, 2014. As a result, the Company and its subsidiaries no longer have insurance coverage under the liability policy with IIC. Currently, there are several civil lawsuits pending against the Company and its subsidiaries. The Company has retained counsel to defend against and evaluate these claims and lawsuits. We are funding 100% of the costs of litigation and will seek reimbursement from the bankruptcy receiver. The Company filed the appropriate claims against IIC with the Receiver before the January 16, 2015 deadline and has provided updates as requested; however, there are no assurances of any recovery from these claims. It is unknown at this time what effect this uncertainty will have on the Company. As previously stated, since October 25, 2013, the Company has obtained general liability coverage from other insurers, which have covered and/or will cover any claims arising from actions after that date. We have 8 unresolved cases left out of the original 71 cases.

General

The Company has been sued by a landlord in the 33rd Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas for a Houston Bombshells which was under renovation in 2015. The plaintiff alleges RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc.’s subsidiary, BMB Dining Services (Willowbrook), Inc., breached a lease agreement by constructing an outdoor patio, which allegedly interfered with the common areas of the shopping center, and by failing to provide Plaintiff with proposed plans before beginning construction. Plaintiff also asserts RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. is liable as guarantor of the lease. The lease was for a Bombshells restaurant to be opened in the Willowbrook Shopping Center in Houston, Texas. Both RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. and BMB Dining Services (Willowbrook), Inc. have denied liability and assert that Plaintiff has failed to mitigate its claimed damages. Further, BMB Dining Services (Willowbrook), Inc. asserts that Plaintiff affirmatively represented that the patio could be constructed under the lease and has filed counter claims and third-party claims against Plaintiff, Plaintiff’s manager, and Plaintiff’s broker asserting that they committed fraud and that the landlord breached the applicable agreements. It is unknown at this time whether the resolution of this uncertainty will have a material effect on the Company’s financial condition.

On June 23, 2014, Mark H. Dupray and Ashlee Dupray filed a lawsuit against Pedro Antonio Panameno and our subsidiary JAI Dining Services (Phoenix) Inc. (“JAI Phoenix”) in the Superior Court of Arizona for Maricopa County. The suit alleges that Mr. Panameno injured Mr. Dupray in a traffic accident after being served alcohol at an establishment operated by JAI Phoenix. The suit alleges JAI Phoenix is liable under theories of common law dram shop negligence and dram shop negligence per se. After a jury trial proceeded to a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs against both defendants, in April 2017 the Court entered a judgment under which JAI Phoenix’s share of compensatory damages is approximately $1.4 million and its share of punitive damages is $4 million. In May 2017, JAI Phoenix filed a motion for judgment as a matter of law or, in the alternative, motion for new trial. The Court denied this motion in August 2017. In September 2017, JAI Phoenix filed a notice of appeal. A hearing date for the appeal has not yet been scheduled. JAI Phoenix believes the Court’s assessments of liability and damages are unsupportable by the facts of the case and the law, and JAI Phoenix will continue to vigorously defend itself. RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. is not a party to the lawsuit. The Company estimates a possible loss in the range of $0 to $5.0 million in this matter.

Settlements of lawsuits for the years ended September 30, 2017, 2016 and 2015 total $316,000, $1.9 million and $11.7 million, respectively. As of September 30, 2017 and 2016, the Company has accrued $295,000 and $2.7 million in accrued liabilities, respectively, related to settlement of lawsuits.