10.

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Litigation, Claims and Assessments

In December 2015, a purported Watsco shareholder, Nelson Gaskins (the “Plaintiff”), filed a derivative lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida (the “Court”) against Watsco’s Board of Directors. The Company was a nominal defendant. The lawsuit alleged breach of fiduciary duties regarding CEO incentive compensation and sought to recover alleged excessive incentive compensation and unspecified damages. The Court dismissed this action, and the Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit (the “Appellate Court”). In May 2017, the Appellate Court dismissed the Plaintiff’s appeal and the action with prejudice. Neither the Plaintiff nor the Plaintiff’s lawyers received any payment from, or on behalf of, Watsco or its Directors in connection with this lawsuit and the related appeal.

We are involved in litigation incidental to the operation of our business. We vigorously defend all matters in which we or our subsidiaries are named defendants and, for insurable losses, maintain significant levels of insurance to protect against adverse judgments, claims or assessments that may affect us. Although the adequacy of existing insurance coverage and the outcome of any legal proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, based on the current information available, we do not believe the ultimate liability associated with any known claims or litigation will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

Self-Insurance

Self-insurance reserves are maintained relative to company-wide casualty insurance and health benefit programs. The level of exposure from catastrophic events is limited by the purchase of stop-loss and aggregate liability reinsurance coverage. When estimating the self-insurance liabilities and related reserves, management considers a number of factors, which include historical claims experience, demographic factors, severity factors and valuations provided by independent third-party actuaries. Management reviews its assumptions with its independent third-party actuaries to evaluate whether the self-insurance reserves are adequate. If actual claims or adverse development of loss reserves occur and exceed these estimates, additional reserves may be required. Reserves in the amounts of $2,757 and $2,951 at September 30, 2017 and December 31, 2016, respectively, were established related to such programs and are included in accrued expenses and other current liabilities in our condensed consolidated unaudited balance sheets.