Contingencies

Environmental

Federal, state and local requirements relating to the discharge of substances into the environment, the disposal of hazardous wastes and other activities affecting the environment have, and will continue to have, an impact on the operations of the company. The process of estimating environmental liabilities is complex and dependent upon evolving physical and scientific data at the sites, uncertainties as to remedies and technologies to be used and the outcome of discussions with regulatory agencies. The company records liabilities for environmental issues in the accounting period in which they are considered to be probable and the cost can be reasonably estimated. At environmental sites in which more than one potentially responsible party has been identified, the company records a liability for its allocable share of costs related to its involvement with the site, as well as an allocable share of costs related to insolvent parties or unidentified shares. At environmental sites in which Meritor is the only potentially responsible

party, the company records a liability for the total probable and estimable costs of remediation before consideration of recovery from insurers or other third parties.

The company has been designated as a potentially responsible party at ten Superfund sites, excluding sites as to which the company’s records disclose no involvement or as to which the company’s liability has been finally determined. In December 2018, the company filed a petition for review of the final action of the United States Environmental Protection Agency to place the "Rockwell International Wheel & Trim" site on the National Priorities List in the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. Management estimates the total reasonably possible costs the company could incur for the remediation of the ten Superfund sites at December 31, 2018 to be approximately $23 million, of which $11 million is probable and recorded as a liability. Included in reasonably possible amounts are estimates for certain remediation actions that may be required if current actions are deemed inadequate by the regulators.

In addition to the Superfund sites, various other lawsuits, claims and proceedings have been asserted against the company, alleging violations of federal, state and local environmental protection requirements, or seeking remediation of alleged environmental impairments, principally at previously disposed-of properties. For these matters, management has estimated the total reasonably possible costs the company could incur at December 31, 2018 to be approximately $11 million, of which $5 million is probable and recorded as a liability.

Included in the company’s environmental liabilities are costs for on-going operation, maintenance and monitoring at environmental sites in which remediation has been put into place. This liability is discounted using discount rates in the range of 2.25 to 3.00 percent and is approximately $13 million at December 31, 2018. The undiscounted estimate of these costs is approximately $14 million.

The following are the components of the Superfund and non-Superfund environmental reserves (in millions):



	Superfund Sites			Non-Superfund Sites		Total
Beginning Balance at September 30, 2018	$	12		$	5	$	17
Payments and other	(1		)	—		(1		)
Accruals	—			—		—
Ending Balance at December 31, 2018	$	11		$	5	$	16

Environmental reserves are included in Other Current Liabilities (see Note 16) and Other Liabilities (see Note 17) in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

The actual amount of costs or damages for which the company may be held responsible could materially exceed the foregoing estimates because of uncertainties, including the financial condition of other potentially responsible parties, the success of the remediation, discovery of new contamination and other factors that make it difficult to predict actual costs accurately. However, based on management’s assessment, after consulting with outside advisors that specialize in environmental matters, and subject to the difficulties inherent in estimating these future costs, the company believes that its expenditures for environmental capital investment and remediation necessary to comply with present regulations governing environmental protection and other expenditures for the resolution of environmental claims will not have a material effect on the company’s business, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, in future periods, new laws and regulations, changes in remediation plans, advances in technology and additional information about the ultimate clean-up remedies could significantly change the company’s estimates. Management cannot assess the possible effect of compliance with future requirements.

In April 2016, the company was served with several complaints filed against the company and other defendants in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. The complaints were amended in July 2016. These complaints allege damages, including diminution of property value, concealment/fraud and emotional distress resulting from alleged environmental pollution in and around a neighborhood in Grenada, Mississippi. Rockwell owned and operated a facility near the neighborhood from 1965 to 1985. The company filed answers to the complaints in July 2016. In May 2017, the company was served with a complaint filed against the company and other defendants by the Mississippi Attorney General in the Chancery Court of Grenada County, Mississippi. The complaint alleges that operations at the above-referenced Grenada facility caused contamination of off-site groundwater and surface waters. Subsequently, the company removed this action to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. However, plaintiffs’ motion to remand the case to the Chancery Court was granted in March 2018. In April, May and July 2018, the company was served with additional property damage, personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits naming the company and others as defendants, which were brought by current and former residents of the same neighborhood. The company intends to defend itself vigorously against these claims. The company believes at this time that liabilities associated with these cases, while possible, are not probable and estimable, and therefore has not recorded any accrual for them as of December 31, 2018 and September 30, 2018. Further, a reasonably possible range of loss cannot be estimated at this time.

Asbestos

Maremont Corporation ("Maremont"), a subsidiary of Meritor, manufactured friction products containing asbestos from 1953 through 1977, when it sold its friction product business. Arvin Industries, Inc., a predecessor of the company, acquired Maremont in 1986. Maremont and many other companies are defendants in suits brought by individuals claiming personal injuries as a result of exposure to asbestos-containing products.

Maremont had approximately 1,700 pending asbestos-related claims at September 30, 2018. Although Maremont has been named in these cases, in the cases where actual injury has been alleged, very few claimants have established that a Maremont product caused their injuries. Plaintiffs’ lawyers often sue dozens or even hundreds of defendants in individual lawsuits, seeking damages against all named defendants irrespective of the disease or injury and irrespective of any causal connection with a particular product. For these reasons, the total number of claims filed is not necessarily the most meaningful factor in determining Maremont's asbestos-related liability.

Maremont Bankruptcy Filing: In the first quarter of fiscal year 2019, Maremont and its three wholly-owned subsidiaries, Maremont Exhaust Products, Inc., AVM, Inc., and Former Ride Control Operating Company, Inc., began to solicit votes from asbestos claimants in favor of a Joint Pre-Packaged Plan of Reorganization (the "Plan"). On January 18, 2019, the Plan was approved by voting asbestos claimants and on January 22, 2019 Maremont and its subsidiaries voluntarily filed cases under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware (the “Bankruptcy Court”) seeking to implement the Plan through the Chapter 11 cases. Among other things, the Plan is intended to permanently resolve all current and future asbestos claims related to Maremont's historical asbestos-related activities through the creation of a trust pursuant to Section 524(g) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code (the “524(g) Trust”). If the Plan is confirmed by the Bankruptcy Court and approved by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware and all other actions necessary to implement the Plan are completed, the company would contribute cash and repay an intercompany loan to Maremont and Maremont would fund the 524(g) Trust with such cash and its other assets, including its existing insurance policies. As a result, all current and future lawsuits related to such asbestos claims against, among others, Meritor and its non-Maremont subsidiaries, would be permanently enjoined and channeled to the 524(g) Trust.

In the first quarter of fiscal 2019, Meritor determined that the net amount Maremont would be required to contribute to the trust according to the Plan of $51 million represents Meritor's best estimate of Maremont's net asbestos liability. As a result, Meritor recognized $31 million of income related to remeasuring the Maremont net asbestos liability to the terms of the Plan.

Pending and Future Claims as of September 2018: Previously, Maremont engaged a third-party advisor with extensive experience in assessing asbestos-related liabilities to conduct a study to estimate its potential undiscounted liability for pending and future asbestos-related claims. Management continuously monitored the underlying claims data and experience, for the purpose of assessing the appropriateness of the assumptions used to estimate the liability.

As of September 30, 2018, the estimated range of equally likely possibilities of Maremont’s obligation for asbestos-related claims over the next 41 years was $107 million to $195 million. Based on the information contained in the actuarial study, and all other available information considered, Maremont concluded that no amount within the range of potential liability was more likely than any other and, therefore, recorded a liability at the low end of the range. Maremont recognized a liability for pending and future claims over the next 41 years of $107 million as of September 30, 2018.

Recoveries as of September 2018: Maremont had historically had insurance that reimburses a meaningful portion of the costs incurred defending against asbestos-related claims. The expected insurance receivable related to future asbestos-related liabilities was $24 million as of September 30, 2018.

Rockwell International Corporation ("Rockwell") — ArvinMeritor, Inc. ("AM"), a predecessor of Meritor, along with many other companies, has also been named as a defendant in lawsuits alleging personal injury as a result of exposure to asbestos used in certain components of Rockwell products many years ago. Liability for these claims was transferred at the time of the spin-off of the automotive business from Rockwell in 1997. There were approximately 1,100 and 1,400 pending active asbestos claims in lawsuits that name AM, together with many other companies, as defendants at December 31, 2018 and September 30, 2018.

A significant portion of the claims do not identify any Rockwell products or specify which of the claimants, if any, were exposed to asbestos attributable to Rockwell products, and past experience has shown that the vast majority of the claimants will likely never identify any of Rockwell products. Historically, AM has been dismissed from the vast majority of similar claims filed in the past with no payment to claimants. For those claimants who do show that they worked with Rockwell products, management nevertheless believes it has meritorious defenses, in substantial part due to the integrity of the products involved and the lack of any impairing medical condition on the part of many claimants.

Pending and Future Claims: The company engaged a third-party advisor with extensive experience in assessing asbestos-related liabilities to conduct a study to estimate its potential undiscounted liability for pending and future asbestos-related claims as of September 30, 2018. Management continuously monitors the underlying claims data and experience, for the purpose of assessing the appropriateness of the assumptions used to estimate the liability.

As of September 30, 2018, the estimated probable range of equally likely possibilities of the company’s obligation for asbestos-related claims over the next 41 years is $103 million to $186 million. Based on the information contained in the actuarial study, and all other available information considered, management concluded that no amount within the range of potential liability was more likely than any other and, therefore, recorded a liability at the low end of the range. The company recognized a liability for pending and future claims over the next 41 years of $101 million as of December 31, 2018 and $103 million as of September 30, 2018.

Recoveries: AM has insurance coverage that management believes covers indemnity and defense costs, over and above self-insurance retentions, for a significant portion of these claims. The insurance receivables for Rockwell asbestos-related liabilities totaled $68 million as of December 31, 2018 and September 30, 2018.

The amounts recorded for the asbestos-related reserves and recoveries from insurance companies are based upon assumptions and estimates derived from currently known facts. All such estimates of liabilities and recoveries for asbestos-related claims are subject to considerable uncertainty because such liabilities and recoveries are influenced by variables that are difficult to predict. The future litigation environment for Rockwell could change significantly from its past experience, due, for example, to changes in the mix of claims filed against Rockwell in terms of plaintiffs’ law firm, jurisdiction and disease; legislative or regulatory developments; the company’s approach to defending claims; or payments to plaintiffs from other defendants. Estimated recoveries are influenced by coverage issues among insurers and the continuing solvency of various insurance companies. If the assumptions with respect to the estimation period, the nature of pending claims, the cost to resolve claims and the amount of available insurance prove to be incorrect, the actual amount of liability for Rockwell asbestos-related claims, and the effect on the company, could differ materially from current estimates and, therefore, could have a material impact on the company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Indemnifications

The company has provided indemnifications in conjunction with certain transactions, primarily divestitures. These indemnities address a variety of matters, which may include environmental, tax, asbestos and employment-related matters, and the periods of indemnification vary in duration.

In December 2005, the company guaranteed a third party’s obligation to reimburse another party for payment of health and prescription drug benefits to a group of retired employees. The retirees were former employees of a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company prior to it being acquired by the company. The wholly-owned subsidiary, which was part of the company’s light vehicle aftermarket business, was sold by the company in fiscal year 2006. Prior to May 2009, except as set forth hereinafter, the third party met its obligations to reimburse the other party. In May 2009, the third party filed for bankruptcy protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, requiring the company to recognize its obligations under the guarantee. The company recorded a $28 million liability in fiscal year 2009 for this matter. At each of December 31, 2018 and September 30, 2018, the remaining estimated liability for this matter was approximately $9 million.

The company is not aware of any other claims or other information that would give rise to material payments under such indemnification obligations.

Other

The company identified certain sales transactions for which value-added tax was potentially required to be remitted to certain tax jurisdictions for tax years 2014 through 2015. At December 31, 2018 and September 30, 2018, the company’s estimate of the probable liability was $3 million.

In addition, various lawsuits, claims and proceedings, other than those specifically disclosed in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements, have been or may be instituted or asserted against the company, relating to the conduct of the company’s business, including those pertaining to product liability, warranty or recall claims, intellectual property, safety and health, contract and employment matters. Although the outcome of other litigation cannot be predicted with certainty, and some lawsuits, claims or proceedings may be disposed of unfavorably to the company, management believes the disposition of matters that are pending will not have a material effect on the company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.