Commitment and Contigencies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2014

Commitments And Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments And Contingencies [TextBlock]

The Company is subject to various legal proceedings arising in the normal course of its business. These proceedings include claims for damages arising out of use of the Company's products, intellectual property, workers' compensation and environmental matters. The Company is self-insured up to specified limits for certain types of claims, including product liability and workers' compensation, and is fully self-insured for certain other types of claims, including environmental and intellectual property matters. The Company recognizes a liability for any contingency that in management's judgment is probable of occurrence and can be reasonably estimated. We continually reassess the likelihood of adverse judgments and outcomes in these matters, as well as estimated ranges of possible losses based upon an analysis of each matter which includes consideration of outside legal counsel and, if applicable, other experts.

The Company is currently involved in litigation with Powerweb Energy, Inc. (“Powerweb”).The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing, unjust enrichment, misappropriation of trade secrets, misappropriation of idea, conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, and unfair trade practices as a result of actions including the Company's development and sale of wiHUBB wireless lighting technology. The lawsuit seeks damages, court costs, interest, attorney's fees, a constructive trust, and an injunction prohibiting the Company and two of its subsidiaries from using Powerweb's claimed technology or disclosing the claimed Powerweb technology to any third parties. The Company's motion to dismiss the case was denied by the District Court in November 2012. The Company moved for summary judgment on all of Powerweb's claims. Since the beginning of the second quarter of 2014, the Court granted the Company's summary judgment motions in part, entering judgment in the Company's favor as to Powerweb's claims for unjust enrichment, conversion, and on Powerweb's claim for lost profits. Summary judgments relating to all other claims were denied. Discovery is now complete and no trial date has been set. The Company believes it has meritorious defenses against all of the remaining claims and will continue to vigorously defend itself in this matter. During 2013, the Company recorded an accrual equal to the low end of its estimated range of outcome. During the third quarter of 2014 the parties engaged in settlement discussions and the Company increased the accrual by $4.0 million based on those discussions. There can be no assurance that the settlement negotiations will be successful. The expense related to that increase is reflected within selling and administrative expenses in the third quarter of 2014.Given the inherent uncertainty of litigation, the ultimate resolution of this matter remains unclear despite the settlement discussions and could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position, liquidity and results of operations.