Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Jan. 03, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

From time to time, the Company is a party to legal proceedings, whether arising in the ordinary course of business or otherwise. Some of the proceedings the Company is involved in are summarized below.

SEC Investigation

As previously reported, since November 2017 the Securities & Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) had been conducting an investigation into the Company’s historical quarterly earnings per share calculations and rounding practices during the period 2014-2017. In the third quarter of 2020, the Company successfully reached a settlement with the SEC in this matter. The Company consented to the entry of an order by the SEC which states, among other things, that the Company was negligent in making certain accounting entries in 2015 and 2016. As part of the settlement, the Company did not admit or deny any wrongdoing. The Company paid a $5.0 million fine to resolve the matter, and was ordered to cease-and-desist from violating certain federal securities laws.

Lawsuit by Former CEO in Connection with Termination

On January 19, 2020, the Company’s Board of Directors voted to terminate for cause the employment of Jay D. Gould, then President and Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately, for violations of the Company’s working environment policies. On February 14, 2020, Mr. Gould filed a lawsuit against the Company in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Georgia, Gould v. Interface, Inc., Case No. 1:20-cv-00695.  In his lawsuit, Mr. Gould asserts several claims against the Company in connection with his termination, including that the termination was a wrongful retaliation against Mr. Gould and breached his employment contract with the Company, that public statements made by the Company in connection with his termination defamed Mr. Gould (two counts) and that the Company’s investigation into Mr. Gould’s conduct that preceded the termination was negligently performed (although the Court has since granted judgment on the pleadings in favor of the Company on Mr. Gould’s putative claim of negligent investigation). Among other unspecified relief, Mr. Gould seeks in excess of $10 million in damages for the breach of contract claim and $100 million for each of the other claims, as well as attorneys’ fees.

The Company believes the lawsuit is without merit and intends to defend vigorously against it.

Putative Class Action Lawsuit

On November 12, 2020, the Company, the Company’s current and former president and chief executive officer, and its current chief financial officer were named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Swanson v. Interface, Inc. et al. (case :120-cv-05518). The lawsuit is a federal securities law class action that alleges that the defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company’s business, operational and compliance policies. The specific allegations relate to the subject matter of the concluded SEC investigation described above. The complaint does not quantify the damages sought.

The Company is evaluating the lawsuit, but believes that it is without merit and that the Company has good defenses to it. The Company intends to defend itself vigorously against the action and any other substantially similar ones that may be filed against it in the future.