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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2013
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

(14) Commitments and Contingencies

 

The Company is subject to various lawsuits and other claims in the normal course of business. In addition, from time to time, the Company receives communications from government or regulatory agencies concerning investigations or allegations of noncompliance with laws or regulations in jurisdictions in which the Company operates.

 

The Company establishes reserves for the estimated losses on specific contingent liabilities, for regulatory and legal actions where the Company deems a loss to be probable and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. In other instances, the Company is not able to make a reasonable estimate of liability because of the uncertainties related to the outcome or the amount or range of potential loss.

 

Litigation, Investigations and Audits – We are not party to, nor are our properties the subject of, any material pending legal proceedings, other than as set forth below:

 

On January 10, 2013, a lawsuit was filed against Astrotech Corporation by John Porter, the former Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, Treasurer and Secretary of the Company. In the lawsuit, Mr. Porter alleges various breaches of contract claims in connection with his termination from the Company on August 3, 2012. Mr. Porter seeks monetary damages of at least $639,808. The Company is vigorously defending the lawsuit filed by Mr. Porter. The parties are now engaged in the discovery process.

 

On February 20, 2013, a shareholder derivative lawsuit was filed in the District Court of Travis County, Texas against the current directors and chief executive officer of Astrotech Corporation and against the Company, as nominal defendant. The complaint alleges, among other things, that the directors and chief executive officer breached fiduciary duties to the Company in connection with certain corporate transactions, including loans to subsidiaries and purchases of outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock. There are preliminary jurisdictional issues that are being litigated in this suit, and there are substantive underlying in this suit that are still in the early stages of litigation and the parties have not yet exchanged written discovery responses. The Company intends to vigorously defend the lawsuit.

 

Astrotech has been named as a party to a suit filed in the Circuit Court of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit for Brevard County, Florida. This is an action for foreclosure of certain real estate and for debt. The Company is named as a party because it holds an inferior lien against the property at issue and must be named in the foreclosure action. No monetary relief has been requested against Astrotech.

 

Contingent obligation related to State of Texas Funding

 

In March 2010, the Texas Emerging Technology Fund awarded 1st Detect $1.8 million for the development and marketing of the Miniature Chemical Detector, a portable mass spectrometer designed to serve the security, healthcare, environmental and industrial markets (See Note 10). As of June 30, 2012, 1st Detect had received $1.8 million in disbursements. The disbursed amount of $1.8 million represents a contingency through March 2020, the date of cancellation. If an event of default should occur, the Company would calculate and expense accrued interest and reclassify principal from equity to notes payable in the consolidated financial statements as amounts due to the State of Texas. Management considers the likelihood of an event of default to be remote. As of December 31, 2013, no default events have occurred.

 

Contingent obligation related to our five-meter high-bay at VAFB in California

 

In September 2009, we completed construction of a 23,000 square foot payload processing facility at VAFB in California which enhanced our capability to process five-meter class satellite payloads. Additionally, in December 2009, we completed construction of a 5,600 square foot office building used by customers for administrative and operational support of teams processing satellites in the new five-meter payload facility. ASO presently leases the 60-acre site located on VAFB in California, where we own four buildings totaling over 50,000 square feet of space. The Company has extended the original land lease, which expired in September 2013. The new lease expires in September 2018, with provisions to extend the lease at the request of the lessee and the concurrence of the lessor. Upon final expiration of the land lease, all improvements on the property revert, at the lessor’s option, to the lessor at no cost or we will be required to return the land to the original condition at our cost. We currently have not accrued anything for this potential obligation.