CONTINGENCIES AND LEGAL MATTERS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

CONTINGENCIES AND LEGAL MATTERS [Abstract]

CONTINGENCIES AND LEGAL MATTERS

CONTINGENCIES AND LEGAL MATTERS

From time to time the Company is involved in various legal and administrative proceedings, including claims related to: product liability, safety or compliance; privacy and cybersecurity matters; negligence; contract disputes; environmental issues; unclaimed property; wage and hour laws; intellectual property; advertising and marketing; consumer protection; pricing (including disaster or emergency declaration pricing statutes); employment practices; regulatory compliance, including trade and export matters; anti-bribery and corruption; and other matters and actions brought by team members, consumers, competitors, suppliers, customers, governmental entities and other third parties.

As previously disclosed, between 2019 and 2021, Grainger, KMCO, LLC (KMCO) and other entities were named as defendants in various personal injury and property damage lawsuits in Harris County, Texas relating to an explosion at a KMCO chemical refinery in Crosby, Texas on April 2, 2019. The Company has since settled several of the personal injury lawsuits, including those alleging the most serious injuries. As previously disclosed, those settlements had no effect on net earnings or cash flows for prior quarters or years. The Company continues to contest the remaining KMCO-related lawsuits. The Company is currently unable to predict the timing, outcome or any estimate of possible loss or range of loss on the KMCO lawsuits.

Also, as a government contractor selling to federal, state and local governmental entities, the Company may be subject to governmental or regulatory inquiries or audits or other proceedings, including those related to contract administration, pricing and product compliance.

While the Company is unable to predict the outcome of any of these proceedings and other matters, it believes that their ultimate resolution will not have, either individually or in the aggregate, a material adverse effect on the Company’s consolidated financial condition or results of operations.