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Commitments and Contingencies
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

9. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Change of Control and Severance Agreements

 

Certain members of our management are parties to severance and change of control agreements with the Company. The severance and change in control agreements provide those individuals with severance payments in certain circumstances and prohibit such individuals from, among other things, competing with the Company during his or her employment. In addition, the severance and change of control agreements prohibit subject individuals from, among other things, disclosing confidential information about the Company and its products or interfering with a client or customer of the Company, in each case during his or her employment and for certain periods (including indefinite periods) following the termination of such person’s employment.

 

Legal Proceedings

 

We are periodically involved in various litigation claims arising in the normal course of business. We believe these actions are routine and incidental to the business. While the outcome of these actions cannot be predicted with certainty, we do not believe that any will have a material adverse impact on our business.

 

Class Action Litigation

 

On April 16, 2021, a purported class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, captioned Celeste v. Intrusion Inc. et al., Case No. 4:21-cv-00307 (E.D.Tex) against the Company, the Company’s chief financial officer, and now-former chief executive officer alleging, among other things, that the defendants made false and/or misleading statements or omissions about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects in violation of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, as well as Section 20(a) of the Exchange Act. The Celeste lawsuit claims compensatory damages and legal fees.

 

On May 14, 2021, a related purported class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, captioned Neely v. Intrusion Inc., et al., Case No. 4:12-cv-00374 (E.D. Tex.) against the Company, the Company’s chief financial officer, and now-former chief executive officer. The Neely lawsuit alleges the same violations under the federal securities laws as those alleged in the Celeste lawsuit. The Neely lawsuit also seeks compensatory damages and legal fees.

 

On November 23, 2021, the Court consolidated the Celeste and Neely actions, and appointed a lead plaintiff and lead plaintiff’s counsel.  The lead plaintiff filed his amended complaint on February 7, 2022. The amended complaint named the following additional parties as named defendants: Mr. Michael Paxton, a former director and executive officer; Mr. Gary Davis, a former officer, Mr. Joe Head, our current chief technology officer and a former director; and Mr. James Gero, a current director and chair of our compensation committee. Our current deadline to respond to the amended complaint is June 9, 2022.  Our management believes the claims in the lawsuit are without merit and intend to defend our position vigorously.

 

Our management is unable to predict the ultimate outcome and is unable to make a meaningful estimate of the amount or range of loss, if any, that could result from any unfavorable outcome of the Class Action Litigation.

 

Securities Investigation

 

On August 8, 2021, the Company received a notification from the Securities and Exchange Commission, Division of Enforcement, that it was conducting an investigation captioned In the Matter of Intrusion Inc. and requesting the Company produce certain documents and information. On November 9, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission served a subpoena to the Company in connection with this investigation which formally requested substantially similar information as in the prior request. The Company is continuing to comply with the requests and is cooperating in the investigation. The Company can offer no assurances as to the outcome of this investigation or its potential effect on the Company or its results of operations.

 

Lease Abandonment

 

On February 16, 2021, Intrusion Inc. instituted legal proceedings in the District Court of Dallas County, Texas, 14th Judicial District against Purple Plaza LLC, the landlord for the facilities we previously occupied in Richardson, Texas. This lawsuit claims damages for breach of contract for, among other things, failure to maintain and repair the leased facilities and to provide adequate heating, air conditioning and ventilation on the premises, resulting in a constructive eviction. Intrusion is seeking damages in excess of $1,000,000 together with a declaratory judgment that any of Intrusion’s remaining obligations under the lease have terminated.  Purple Plaza, LLC has answered by filing a general denial, and recently added a counterclaim seeking alleged past due rent in the amount of approximately $229,000 and future rent allegedly exceeding $2,000,000 million without offsetting its duty to mitigate its damages. Discovery is underway in the matter. The case is set for jury trial on June 7, 2022.

 

In addition to this pending litigation, we are subject to various other legal proceedings and claims that may arise in the ordinary course of business. We do not believe that any claims exist where the outcome of such matters would have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, operating results or cash flows. However, there can be no assurance such legal proceedings will not have a material impact on future results.