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Commitments and Contingencies | 6 Months Ended
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Jun. 30, 2020
Commitments and Contingencies |
11. Commitments and Contingencies | Note 11 - Commitments and Contingencies Litigation From time to time, the Company is involved in various legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. For example, to the extent a claim is asserted by a third party in a lawsuit against one of the Company’s insureds covered by a particular policy, the Company may have a duty to defend the insured party against the claim. These claims may relate to bodily injury, property damage or other compensable injuries as set forth in the policy. Such proceedings are considered in estimating the liability for loss and LAE expenses. On June 12, 2019, Phillip Woolgar filed a suit naming the Company and certain present or former officers and directors as defendants in a putative class action captioned Woolgar v. Kingstone Companies et al., 19 cv 05500 (S.D.N.Y.), asserting claims under Section 10(b) of the Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder and Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of persons or entities that purchased Kingstone securities between March 14, 2018, and April 29, 2019, and alleges violations of the federal securities law in connection with the Company’s April 29, 2019 announcement regarding losses related to winter catastrophe events. The lawsuit alleges that the Company failed to disclose that it did not adequately follow industry best practices related to claims handling and thus did not record sufficient claim reserves, and that as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations and prospects misled investors. Plaintiff seeks, among other things, an undetermined amount of money damages. The Company believes the lawsuit to be without merit. The Company has not established an accrual for this matter as a loss is not considered to be probable and reasonably estimable. It is the opinion of management, after consulting legal counsel, that facts known at the present time do not indicate that such litigation will have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations, financial position, or cash flows. On August 10, 2020, the court granted the Company’s motion to dismiss the amended complaint in the suit. The court has permitted plaintiff to amend the complaint to attempt to cure the deficiencies identified by the court in its opinion (to the extent plaintiff has a good faith basis to do so). The amended complaint, if any, would need to be filed by September 11, 2020. Office Lease The Company enters into lease agreements for real estate that is primarily used for office space in the ordinary course of business. These leases are accounted for as operating leases, whereby lease expense is recognized on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease. The Company is a party to a non-cancellable operating lease, dated March 27, 2015, for its office facility for KICO located in Valley Stream, New York expiring March 31, 2024. On July 8, 2019, the Company entered into a lease agreement for an additional office facility for Cosi located in Valley Stream, New York under a non-cancelable operating lease. The lease has a term of seven years and two months expiring December 31, 2026. In addition to the base rental costs, occupancy lease agreements generally provide for rent escalations resulting from increased assessments from real estate taxes and other charges. Additional information regarding the Company’s office operating leases is as follows:
|  | Three months ended |  |  | Six months ended |
Lease cost |  | June 30, 2020 |  |  | June 30, 2020 |
Operating leases |  | $ | 61,297 |  |  | $ | 122,594 |
Short-term leases |  |  | - |  |  |  | - |
Total lease cost (1) |  | $ | 61,297 |  |  | $ | 122,594 |
Other information on operating leases |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cash payments included in the measurement of lease |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
liability reported in operating cash flows |  | $ | 62,782 |  |  | $ | 127,063 |
Discount rate |  |  | 5.50 | % |  |  | 5.50 | %
Remaining lease term in years |  | 5 years |  |  | 5 years |
| (1) | Included in the condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income within other underwriting expenses for KICO and within other operating expenses for Cosi.
The following table presents the contractual maturities of the Company’s lease liabilities as of June 30, 2020:
For the Year |  |  |
Ending |  |  |
December 31, |  | Total |
Remainder of 2020 |  | $ | 128,561 |
2021 |  |  | 264,571 |
2022 |  |  | 273,831 |
2023 |  |  | 283,415 |
2024 |  |  | 140,739 |
Thereafter |  |  | 192,916 |
Total undiscounted lease payments |  |  | 1,284,033 |
Less: present value adjustment |  |  | 190,041 |
Operating lease liability |  | $ | 1,093,992 |
Rent expense for the three months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 amounted to $61,297 and $41,342, respectively. Rent expense for the six months ended June 30, 2020 and 2019 totaled $122,594 and $82,684, respectively. Rent expense is included in the accompanying condensed consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income within other underwriting expenses. Employment Agreements Barry Goldstein, President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board On October 14, 2019, the Company and Barry B. Goldstein, the Company’s President, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board, entered into a Second Amended and Restated Employment Agreement (the “Amended Employment Agreement”). The Amended Employment Agreement is effective as of January 1, 2020 and expires on December 31, 2022. The Amended Employment Agreement extends the expiration date of the employment agreement in effect for Mr. Goldstein from December 31, 2021 to December 31, 2022. Pursuant to the Amended Employment Agreement, Mr. Goldstein is entitled to receive an annual base salary of $500,000 and an annual bonus equal to 6% of the Company’s consolidated income from operations before taxes, exclusive of the Company’s consolidated net investment income (loss), net unrealized gains (losses) on equity securities and net realized gains (losses) on investments, up to a maximum of 2.5 times his base salary. In addition, pursuant to the Amended Employment Agreement, Mr. Goldstein is entitled to receive a long-term compensation (“LTC”) award of between $945,000 and $2,835,000 based on a specified minimum increase in the Company’s adjusted book value per share (as defined in the Amended Employment Agreement) as of December 31, 2022 as compared to December 31, 2019 (with the maximum LTC payment being due if the average per annum increase is at least 14%). Further, pursuant to the Amended Employment Agreement, in the event that Mr. Goldstein’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or he resigns for good reason (each as defined in the Amended Employment Agreement), Mr. Goldstein would be entitled to receive his base salary, the 6% bonus and the LTC payment for the remainder of the term. In addition, in the event of Mr. Goldstein’s death, his estate would be entitled to receive his base salary, accrued bonus and accrued LTC payment through the date of death. Further, in the event that Mr. Goldstein’s employment is terminated by the Company without cause or he resigns for good reason, or, in the event of the termination of Mr. Goldstein’s employment due to disability or death, Mr. Goldstein’s granted but unvested restricted stock awards will vest. Mr. Goldstein would be entitled, under certain circumstances, to a payment equal to 3.82 times his then annual salary, the target LTC payment of $1,890,000 and his accrued 6% bonus in the event of the termination of his employment within eighteen months following a change of control of the Company. Pursuant to the Amended Employment Agreement, in January 2020, Mr. Goldstein received a grant of 157,431 shares of restricted stock, under the terms of the Company’s 2014 Plan determined by dividing $1,250,000 by the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant. This 2020 grant will become vested with respect to one-third of the award on each of the first and second anniversaries of the grant date and on December 31, 2022 based on the continued provision of services through the applicable vesting date. Also pursuant to the Amended Employment Agreement, Mr. Goldstein will be entitled to receive a grant, under the terms of the 2014 Plan, during January 2021, of a number of shares of restricted stock determined by dividing $1,500,000 by the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant. The January 2021 grant will become vested with respect to one-half of the award on each of the first anniversary of the grant date and on December 31, 2022 based on the continued provision of services through the applicable vesting date. Further, pursuant to the Amended Employment Agreement, Mr. Goldstein is entitled to receive a grant, under the terms of the 2014 Plan, during each of 2020, 2021 and 2022, of a number of shares of restricted stock determined by dividing $136,500 by the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant. In January 2020, Mr. Goldstein was granted 17,191 shares of restricted stock pursuant to this provision. This grant will become vested with respect to one-third of the award on each of the first and second anniversaries of the grant date and on December 31, 2022 based on the continued provision of services through the applicable vesting date. The 2021 grant will become vested with respect to one-half of the award on each of the first anniversary of the grant date and on December 31, 2022 based on the continued provision of services through the applicable vesting date. The 2022 grant will become vested on December 31, 2022 based on the continued provision of services through such date. Dale A. Thatcher Effective July 19, 2019 (the “Separation Date”), Dale A. Thatcher retired and resigned his positions as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company and KICO. At such time, he also resigned his positions on the Board of Directors of each of the Company and KICO. Effective upon Mr. Thatcher’s separation from employment, the Board appointed Barry B. Goldstein, former Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors, to the position of Chief Executive Officer and President of each of the Company and KICO. Mr. Goldstein previously served as Chief Executive Officer and President of the Company from March 2001 through December 31, 2018, and as Chief Executive Officer and President of KICO from January 2012 through December 31, 2018. In connection with his separation from employment, each of the Company and KICO entered into an Agreement and General Release (the “Separation Agreement”) with Mr. Thatcher. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement, the Company and KICO shall collectively provide the following payments and benefits to Mr. Thatcher in full satisfaction of all payments and benefits and other amounts due to him under the terms of the existing employment agreements upon his separation from employment: (i) $381,111 (representing the amount of base salary he would have received had he remained employed through March 31, 2020), (ii) $5,000 in full satisfaction for any bonus payments payable under the existing employment agreements, (iii) continuing group health coverage commencing on the Separation Date and ending on March 31, 2020, and (iv) continued vesting of all stock awards previously granted to Mr. Thatcher in his capacity as an executive officer but which were unvested as of the Separation Date (Mr. Thatcher shall not be entitled to any further grants of stock awards after the Separation Date) . In addition, the Company and KICO agreed to provide Mr. Thatcher with a severance payment of $20,000 in consideration for a release. Pursuant to the Separation Agreement, Mr. Thatcher agreed that, for a period of three years following the Separation Date, he shall not accept any operating executive role with another property and casualty insurance company. Meryl Golden, Chief Operating Officer On September 16, 2019, the Company and Meryl Golden entered into an employment agreement (the “Golden Employment Agreement”) pursuant to which Ms. Golden serves as the Company’s Chief Operating Officer. Ms. Golden also serves as KICO’s Chief Operating Officer. The Golden Employment Agreement became effective as of September 25, 2019 and expires on December 31, 2021. Pursuant to the Golden Employment Agreement, Ms. Golden is entitled to receive an annual salary of $500,000 and was granted a five year option for the purchase of 50,000 shares of the Company’s Common Stock pursuant to the 2014 Plan. The options granted will vest in three equal installments, with the first installment vesting on the grant date, and the remaining installments vesting on the first and second anniversaries following the grant date, subject to the terms of the stock option agreement between the Company and Ms. Golden. COVID-19 The recent outbreak of the coronavirus, also known as "COVID-19", has spread across the globe and is impacting worldwide economic activity. Conditions surrounding the coronavirus continue to rapidly evolve and government authorities have implemented emergency measures to mitigate the spread of the virus. The outbreak and the related mitigation measures have had and will continue to have a material adverse impact on global economic conditions as well as on the Company's business activities. The extent to which COVID-19 may impact the Company's business activities will depend on future developments, such as the ultimate geographic spread of the disease, the duration of the outbreak, travel restrictions, business disruptions, and the effectiveness of actions taken in the United States and other countries to contain and treat the disease. These events are highly uncertain and, as such, the Company cannot determine their financial impact at this time. No adjustments have been made to the amounts reported in these condensed consolidated financial statements as a result of this matter.

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