Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Self-Insurance

Our policy is to self-insure up to certain limits traditional risks, including workers’ compensation, comprehensive general liability, and auto liability. Our self-insured retention for each claim involving workers’ compensation, comprehensive general liability (including product liability claims), and auto liability is limited per occurrence of such claims. A provision for claims under this self-insured program, based on our estimate of the aggregate liability for claims incurred, is revised and recorded annually. The estimate is derived from both internal and external sources including, but not limited to, our independent actuary. We are also self-insured up to certain limits for certain other insurable risks, primarily physical loss to property and business interruptions resulting from such loss lasting two days or more in duration. Insurance coverage is maintained for catastrophic property and casualty exposures, as well as those risks required to be insured by law or contract. We are fully self-insured for certain other types of liabilities, including environmental, product recall, warranty, and patent infringement. The actuarial estimates are subject to uncertainty from various sources including, among others, changes in claim reporting patterns, claim settlement patterns, judicial decisions, legislation, and economic conditions. Although we believe that the actuarial estimates are reasonable, significant differences related to the items noted above could materially affect our self-insurance obligations, future expense, and cash flow.

We are also self-insured for the majority of our medical benefit plans up to certain limits. We estimate our aggregate liability for claims incurred by applying a lag factor to our historical claims and administrative cost experience. The appropriateness of our lag factor is evaluated annually and revised as necessary.

Leases

We lease certain of our buildings and equipment under noncancelable lease agreements. Future minimum annual lease payments under noncancelable leases are $16.7 million, $13.5 million, $9.9 million, $7.2 million, $4.6 million, and $16.8 million for fiscal 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, and after 2024, respectively.

Total rent expense was $22.6 million, $22.3 million, and $20.0 million in fiscal 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively.

Purchase Obligations

We incur purchase obligations in the ordinary course of business that are enforceable and legally binding. Obligations for years subsequent to August 31, 2019 include $347.2 million, $5.0 million, and $5.0 million in fiscal 2020, and 2021, respectively. As of August 31, 2019, we had no purchase obligations extending beyond August 31, 2022.

Collective Bargaining Agreements

Approximately 67% of our total work force is covered by collective bargaining agreements. Collective bargaining agreements representing approximately 57% of our work force will expire within one year, primarily due to annual negotiations of union contracts with in Mexico.

Lighting Science Group Patent Litigation

On April 30, 2019 and May 1, 2019, Lighting Science Group Corp. (“LSG”) filed complaints in the International Trade Commission and United States District Court for the District of Delaware, respectively, alleging infringement of eight patents by the Company. On May 17, 2019, LSG amended both of its complaints and dropped its claims regarding one of the patents. For the remaining seven patents, LSG’s infringement allegations relate to certain of our LED luminaires and related systems. LSG seeks orders from the International Trade Commission to preclude the importation and sale of the accused products. LSG seeks unspecified monetary damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees in the District of Delaware action. We dispute and have numerous defenses to the allegations, and we intend to vigorously defend against LSG’s claims. Estimating an amount or range of possible losses resulting from litigation proceedings is inherently difficult, particularly where the matters involve indeterminate claims for monetary damages and a request for an exclusion order and are in the stages of the proceedings where key factual and legal issues have not been resolved. For these reasons, we currently are unable to predict the ultimate timing or outcome of or reasonably estimate the possible losses or a range of possible losses resulting from these matters.

Securities Class Action

On January 3, 2018, a shareholder filed a class action complaint in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware against us and certain of our officers on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired our stock between June 29, 2016 and April 3, 2017. On February 20, 2018, a different shareholder filed a second class action complaint in the same venue against the same parties on behalf of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired our stock between October 15, 2015 and April 3, 2017. The cases were transferred on April 30, 2018, to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and subsequently were consolidated as In re Acuity Brands, Inc. Securities Litigation, Civil Action No. 1:18-cv-02140-MHC (N.D. Ga.). On October 5, 2018, the court-appointed lead plaintiff filed a consolidated amended class action complaint (the “Consolidated Complaint”), which supersedes the initial complaints. The Consolidated Complaint is brought on behalf of all persons who purchased our common stock between October 7, 2015 and April 3, 2017 and alleges that we and certain of our current officers and one former executive violated the federal securities laws by making false or misleading statements and/or omitting to disclose material adverse facts that (i) concealed known trends negatively impacting sales of our products and (ii) overstated our ability to achieve profitable sales growth. The plaintiffs seek class certification, unspecified monetary damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. We dispute the allegations in the complaints and intend to move to dismiss the Consolidated Complaint and to vigorously defend against the claims. We filed a motion to dismiss the Consolidated Complaint. On August 12, 2019, the court entered an order granting our motion to dismiss in part and dismissing all claims based on 42 of the 47 statements challenged in the Consolidated Complaint but also denying the motion in part and allowing claims based on 5 challenged statements to proceed to discovery. Estimating an amount or range of possible losses resulting from litigation proceedings is inherently difficult, particularly where the matters involve indeterminate claims for monetary damages and are in the stages of the proceedings where key factual and legal issues have not been resolved. For these reasons, we are currently unable to predict the ultimate timing or outcome of or reasonably estimate the possible losses or a range of possible losses resulting from the matters described above. We are insured, in excess of a self-retention, for Directors and Officers liability.

Litigation

We are subject to various other legal claims arising in the normal course of business, including patent infringement, employment matters, and product liability claims. Based on information currently available, it is the opinion of management that the ultimate resolution of pending and threatened legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows. However, in the event of unexpected future developments, it is possible that the ultimate resolution of any such matters, if unfavorable, could have a material adverse effect on the financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows in future periods. We establish reserves for legal claims when associated costs become probable and can be reasonably estimated. The actual costs of resolving legal claims may be substantially higher than the amounts reserved for such claims. However, we cannot make a meaningful estimate of actual costs to be incurred that could possibly be higher or lower than the amounts reserved.

Environmental Matters

Our operations are subject to numerous comprehensive laws and regulations relating to the generation, storage, handling, transportation, and disposal of hazardous substances, as well as solid and hazardous wastes, and to the remediation of contaminated sites. In addition, permits and environmental controls are required for certain operations to limit air and water pollution, and these permits are subject to modification, renewal, and revocation by issuing authorities. On an ongoing basis, we invest capital and incur operating costs relating to environmental compliance. Environmental laws and regulations have generally become stricter in recent years. We are not aware of any pending legislation or proposed regulation related to environmental issues that would have a material adverse effect. The cost of responding to future changes may be substantial. We establish reserves for known environmental claims when the associated costs become probable and can be reasonably estimated. The actual cost of environmental issues may be substantially higher than that reserved due to difficulty in estimating such costs.

Guarantees and Indemnities

We are a party to contracts entered into in the normal course of business in which it is common for us to agree to indemnify third parties for certain liabilities that may arise out of or relate to the subject matter of the contract. In most cases, we cannot estimate the potential amount of future payments under these indemnities until events arise that would result in a liability under the indemnities.

Acquisition-Related Liabilities

During the negotiations related to business combinations, the previous owners of the acquired entity (“acquiree”) typically indemnify us for specific unrecognized liabilities of the acquiree in existence as of the date of acquisition. For some acquisitions of businesses, we act in the place of escrow agents in the holding of funds, including accrued interest (collectively, the “holdback funds”), used to fulfill pre-acquisition obligations agreed to be paid by the acquiree. These funds represent consideration given to the previous owners of the businesses acquired and are payable to them, net of any pre-acquisition obligations satisfied within a stated amount of time, at a future date. Any potential pre-acquisition obligations for which we may be reimbursed through the holdback funds are usually uncertain as of the date of the change of control. In certain circumstances, we are capable of the identification and quantification of particular liabilities including, but not limited to, uncertain tax positions, legal issues, and other outstanding obligations not recognized in the financial statements of the acquired entity. Under ASC Topic 805, Business Combinations, these unrecognized liabilities are recorded as obligations with a corresponding receivable due from the previous owners as of the date of acquisition and are included as part of the acquisition accounting. The actual costs of resolving pre-acquisition obligations may be substantially higher than the holdback funds or amounts reserved. We do not believe that any amounts we are likely to be required to pay under these acquisition-related liabilities, including net holdback funds, will be material to our financial position, results of operations, or cash flow.

Product Warranty and Recall Costs

Our products generally have a standard warranty term of five years that assure our products comply with agreed upon specifications. We record a reserve for the estimated amount of future warranty costs when the related revenue is recognized. Estimated costs related to product recalls based on a formal campaign soliciting repair or return of that product are accrued when they are deemed to be probable and can be reasonably estimated. Estimated future warranty and recall costs are primarily based on historical experience of identified warranty and recall claims. However, there can be no assurance that future warranty or recall costs will not exceed historical amounts or that new technology products may not generate unexpected costs. If actual future warranty or recall costs exceed historical amounts, additional reserves may be required, which could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and cash flows.

Reserves for product warranty and recall costs are included in Other accrued liabilities and Other long-term liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The changes in the reserves for product warranty and recall costs during the fiscal years ended August 31, 2019, 2018, and 2017 are summarized as follows (in millions):



	Year Ended August 31,
	2019			2018			2017
Beginning balance	$	27.3		$	22.0		$	15.5
Warranty and recall costs	18.7			32.4			39.8
Payments and other deductions	(19.7		)	(27.7		)	(33.3		)
Acquired warranty and recall liabilities	—			0.6			—
ASC 606 adjustments ⁽¹⁾	(14.8		)	—			—
Ending balance	$	11.5		$	27.3		$	22.0

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⁽¹⁾Certain service-type warranties accounted for as contingent liabilities prior to the adoption of ASC 606 are now reflected as contract liabilities effective September 1, 2018. Refer to the New Accounting Pronouncements and Revenue Recognition footnotes for additional information.

Trade Compliance Matters

In the course of routine reviews of import and export activity, we previously determined that we misclassified and/or inaccurately valued certain international shipments of products. We are conducting a detailed review of this activity to

determine the extent of any liabilities and implementing the appropriate remedial measures. At this time, we are unable to determine the likelihood or amount of loss, if any, associated with these shipments.