Other Operating Expense, Net

6 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2021

Other Income and Expenses [Abstract]

Other Operating Expense, Net

Note 10—Other Operating Gain (Expense), Net

The following table summarizes the other operating gain (expense), net by business segment:

	Three Months Ended January 31,						Six Months Ended January 31,
	2021			2020			2021			2020
	(in thousands)
Corporate—Straight Path Communications Inc. class action legal fees net of insurance claims	$	(306	)	$	(160	)	$	(4	)	$	(421	)
net2phone-UCaaS—other, net		(100	)		(63	)		(100	)		(63	)
Traditional Communications—gain from sale of rights under class action lawsuit		2,000			—			2,000			—
Traditional Communications—net2phone indemnification claim		(387	)		(169	)		(387	)		(534	)
Traditional Communications—Carrier Services settlement		—			—			(554	)		—
Traditional Communications—accrual for non-income related taxes related to a foreign subsidiary		—			—			—			(2,150	)
Total other operating gain (expense), net	$	1,207		$	(392	)	$	955		$	(3,168	)

Straight Path Communications Inc. Class Action

On July 31, 2013, the Company completed a pro rata distribution of the common stock of the Company’s subsidiary Straight Path Communications Inc. (“Straight Path”) to the Company’s stockholders of record as of the close of business on July 25, 2013. As discussed in Note 14, there is a pending putative class action on behalf of Straight Path’s stockholders and derivative complaint naming the Company, among others. The Company incurred legal fees of $1.4 million and $0.6 million in the three months ended January 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1.7 million and $1.2 million in the six months ended January 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, related to this action. Also, the Company recorded offsetting gains from insurance claims for this matter of $1.1 million and $0.4 million in the three months ended January 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, and $1.7 million and $0.8 million in the six months ended January 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.

Gain from Sale of Rights under Class Action Lawsuit

On December 21, 2020, the Company received $2.0 million from the sale to a third party of all its rights under the Payment Card Interchange Fee and Merchant Discount Antitrust Litigation. The lawsuit is about claims that merchants paid excessive fees to accept Visa and Mastercard cards between January 1, 2004 and January 25, 2019 because Visa and Mastercard, individually, and together with their respective member banks, violated the antitrust laws.

Indemnification Claim

In June 2019, as part of a commercial resolution, the Company indemnified a net2phone cable telephony customer related to patent infringement claims brought against the customer.

Accrual for Non-Income Related Taxes

In the six months ended January 31, 2020, the Company recorded an accrual for non-income related taxes related to one of its foreign subsidiaries.