Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

13. Commitments and Contingencies

The Company leases certain of its manufacturing facilities under noncancelable operating leases expiring at various dates through 2015. The Company incurred rental expense under these leases of $1.8 million and $1.6 million for the six months ended June 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively. The approximate minimum rental commitments required under existing noncancelable leases as of June 30, 2011 are as follows (in thousands):

2010	$	1,873
2011		3,051
2012		2,066
2013		925
2014		434
Thereafter		364
	$	8,713

A class action lawsuit was filed on April 8, 2011, in the California Superior Court for Orange County (Civil Action No. 30-2011-00465269), in which it was asserted that the representative plaintiff, a former Ceradyne employee, and the putative class members, were not provided with meal and rest periods in accordance with California law, and were not paid overtime at an appropriate overtime rate. The Company removed the case to the Federal District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana, Case No. 8:11-cv-00778-CJC-MLG.  The Company thereafter met and conferred related to a motion to dismiss as required by local rules and Plaintiff agreed to dismiss a significant portion of the Complaint.  In an amended Complaint, Plaintiff has alleged that certain terminated employees from the fourth quarter of 2009 to the present were not paid the full amount of their overtime on a bonus paycheck given to them after they were terminated.  Plaintiff also claims he is entitled to additional overtime because he was required to perform some work during his meal breaks.  The Company disputes such contentions and is aggressively defending the claims. While the posture of the case is such that it is indeterminable as to the outcome at this time, Plaintiff only alleges actual unpaid overtime of $8,000 for the entire purported class.  The Plaintiff alleges waiting time penalties for this putative class, but such award is contingent upon a showing that Ceradyne intentionally withheld pay from the purported Plaintiffs, which is simply not the case.