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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Commitments And Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

10. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases, including continuing obligations of discontinued operations, as of June 30, 2014 are as follows (in thousands):

 

Year Ending December 31,

   Operating
Leases
 

2014 (as of June 30, 2014)

   $ 1,470   

2015

     2,456   

2016

     1,912   

2017

     1,217   

2018

     616   

Thereafter

     1,054   
  

 

 

 

Total long-term obligations

   $ 8,725   
  

 

 

 

The Company has contractual obligations to utilize an external vendor for certain customer support functions and to utilize network facilities from certain carriers with terms greater than one year.

 

The Company’s rent expense under operating leases was $1.0 million and $0.7 million for the three months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The Company’s rent expense under operating leases was $3.3 million and $1.4 million for the six months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The rent expense for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014 includes costs associated with the terminations of facilities leases.

Litigation

In December 2012, two lawsuits were filed against our subsidiaries that involve fabrication work pertaining to a refinery in Whiting, Indiana (the “BP Refinery”), owned by a subsidiary of British Petroleum (“BP”). BP brought suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Indiana against Carboline Company (“Carboline”), Trinity Steel Fabricators, Inc. (“Trinity”), the Company’s subsidiary, Schuff Steel Company (“SSC”), Tecon Services, Inc. (“Tecon”) and Alfred Miller Contracting Company (“AMC”), asserting contract and warranty claims as to SSC, arising out of allegations that fireproofing applied by others to steel that SSC and Trinity supplied to a modernization project at the BP Refinery was defectively fireproofed. AMC and Tecon filed a Petition for Damages and Declaratory Judgment in the State Court of Louisiana (14th Judicial District Court, Parish of Calcasieu), against Carboline, BP Corporation North America Inc., BP Products North America, Inc., Trinity, the Company’s subsidiaries, SSC and Schuff Steel—Gulf Coast, Inc. (“Gulf Coast”) and others parties. AMC and Tecon alleged, among other claims, that the Carboline Pyrocrete® 241 on the BP Refinery project was defective and that Carboline breached product warranties. In April 2014, the lawsuits were resolved in mediation. A confidential settlement agreement was executed on June 16, 2014 and the litigations were formally dismissed in July 2014. The Company’s settlement contribution was funded by its insurance carriers.

On February 14, 2014, the Company’s subsidiary, SSC, filed suit against dck/FWF, LLC (“dck”) in the Circuit Court in Sarasota County, Florida for additional work and costs SSC incurred on the University Town Center Project (“UTC Project”) in Sarasota, Florida. From the beginning of the UTC Project, the owner and general contractor, dck, made numerous design changes that resulted in substantial extra work for SSC. dck directed SSC to proceed and price this additional work. In May 2014, the lawsuit was resolved. Under the terms of a confidential settlement agreement, Schuff received certain additional compensation for extra work performed and costs incurred on the UTC Project.

The Company is subject to other claims and legal proceedings that arise in the ordinary course of business. Such matters are inherently uncertain, and there can be no guarantee that the outcome of any such matter will be decided favorably to the Company or that the resolution of any such matter will not have a material adverse effect upon the Company’s business, consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flow. The Company does not believe that any of such pending claims and legal proceedings will have a material adverse effect on its business, consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flow.