Commitments and contingencies

9 Months Ended

Oct. 30, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and contingencies

Commitments and contingencies

Legal proceedings

Employment practices

In March 2008, a group of private plaintiffs (the “Claimants”) filed a class and collective action lawsuit for an unspecified amount against SJI, a subsidiary of Signet, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York alleging that US store-level employment practices are discriminatory as to compensation and promotional activities with respect to gender. In June 2008, the District Court referred the matter to private arbitration where the Claimants sought to proceed on a class-wide basis. The Claimants filed a motion for class certification and SJI opposed the motion. On February 2, 2015, the arbitrator issued a Class Determination Award in which she certified for a class-wide hearing Claimants’ disparate impact declaratory and injunctive relief class claim under Title VII, with a class period of July 22, 2004 through date of trial for the Claimants’ compensation claims and December 7, 2004 through date of trial for Claimants’ promotion claims. The arbitrator otherwise denied Claimants’ motion to certify a disparate treatment class alleged under Title VII, denied a disparate impact monetary damages class alleged under Title VII, and denied an opt-out monetary damages class under the Equal Pay Act. On February 9, 2015, Claimants filed an Emergency Motion To Restrict Communications With The Certified Class And For Corrective Notice. SJI filed its opposition to Claimants’ emergency motion on February 17, 2015, and a hearing was held on February 18, 2015. Claimants’ motion was granted in part and denied in part in an order issued on March 16, 2015. Claimants filed a Motion for Reconsideration Regarding Title VII Claims for Disparate Treatment in Compensation on February 11, 2015, which SJI opposed. April 27, 2015, the arbitrator issued an order denying the Claimants’ Motion. SJI filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York a Motion to Vacate the Arbitrator’s Class Certification Award on March 3, 2015, which Claimants opposed. On November 16, 2015, the US District Court for the Southern District of New York granted SJI’s Motion to Vacate the Arbitrator’s Class Certification Award in part and denied it in part. On December 3, 2015, SJI filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit SJI’s Notice of Appeal of the District Court’s November 16, 2015 Opinion and Order. On November 25, 2015, SJI filed a Motion to Stay the AAA Proceedings while SJI appealed the decision of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, which Claimants opposed. The arbitrator issued an order denying SJI’s Motion to Stay on February 22, 2016. SJI filed its Brief and Special Appendix with the Second Circuit on March 16, 2016. The matter was fully briefed, and oral argument was heard by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on November 2, 2016. On April 6, 2015, Claimants filed in the AAA Claimants’ Motion for Clarification or in the Alternative Motion for Stay of the Effect of the Class Certification Award as to the Individual Intentional Discrimination Claims, which SJI opposed. On June 15, 2015, the arbitrator granted the Claimants’ motion. On March 6, 2017, Claimants filed Claimants’ Motion for Conditional Certification of Claimants’ Equal Pay Act Claims and Authorization of Notice, which SJI opposed The arbitrator heard oral argument on Claimants’ Motion on December 18, 2015 and, on February 29, 2016, issued an Equal Pay Act Collective Action Conditional Certification Award and Order Re Claimants’ Motion For Tolling Of EPA Limitations Period, conditionally certifying Claimants’ Equal Pay Act claims as a collective action, and tolling the statute of limitations on EPA claims to October 16, 2003 to ninety days after notice issued to the putative members of the collective action. SJI filed in the AAA a Motion To Stay Arbitration Pending The District Court’s Consideration Of Respondent’s Motion To Vacate Arbitrator’s Equal Pay Act Collective Action Conditional Certification Award And Order Re Claimants’ Motion For Tolling Of EPA Limitations Period on March 10, 2016. SJI filed in the AAA a Renewed Motion To Stay Arbitration Pending The District Court’s Resolution Of Sterling’s Motion To Vacate Arbitrator’s Equal Pay Act Collective Action Conditional Certification Award And Order Re Claimants’ Motion For Tolling Of EPA Limitations Period on March 31, 2016, which Claimants opposed. On April 5, 2016, the arbitrator denied SJI’s Motion. On March 23, 2016 SJI filed with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York a Motion To Vacate The Arbitrator’s Equal Pay Act Collective Action Conditional Certification Award And Order Re Claimants’ Motion For Tolling Of EPA Limitations Period, which Claimants opposed. SJI’s Motion was denied on May 22, 2016. On May 31, 2016, SJI filed a Notice Of Appeal of Judge Rakoff’s opinion and order to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which Claimant’s opposed. On June 1, 2017, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed SJI’s appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction. Claimants filed a Motion For Amended Class Determination Award on November 18, 2015, and on March 31, 2016 the arbitrator entered an order amending the Title VII class certification award to preclude class members from requesting exclusion from the injunctive and declaratory relief class certified in the arbitration. The arbitrator issued a Bifurcated Case Management Plan on April 5, 2016 and ordered into effect the parties’ Stipulation Regarding Notice Of Equal Pay Act Collective Action And Related Notice Administrative Procedures on April 7, 2016. SJI filed in the AAA a Motion For Protective Order on May 2, 2016, which Claimants opposed. The matter was fully briefed, and oral argument was heard on July 22, 2016. The motion was granted in part on January 27, 2017. Notice to EPA collective action members was issued on May 3, 2016, and the opt-in period for these notice recipients closed on August 1, 2016. Approximately 10,314 current and former employees submitted consent forms to opt in to the collective action; however, some have withdrawn their consents. The number of valid consents is believed to be approximately 9,124. On July 24, 2017, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued its unanimous Summary Order that held that the absent class members “never consented” to the Arbitrator determining the permissibility of class arbitration under the agreements, and remanded the matter to the District Court to determine whether the Arbitrator exceeded her authority by certifying the Title VII class that contained absent class members who had

not opted in the litigation. On August 7, 2017, SJI filed its Renewed Motion to Vacate the Class Determination Award relative to absent class members with the District Court. The matter was fully briefed, and an oral argument was heard on October 16, 2017. On November 10, 2017, SJI filed in the arbitration motions for summary judgment, and for decertification, of Claimants’ Equal Pay Act and Title VII promotions claims. On January 30, 2018, oral argument on SJI’s motions was heard. On January 26, 2018, SJI filed in the arbitration a Motion to Vacate The Equal Pay Act Collective Action Award And Tolling Order asserting that the Arbitrator exceeded her authority by conditionally certifying the Equal Pay Act claim and allowing the absent claimants to opt-in the litigation. On March 12, 2018, the Arbitrator denied SJI’s Motion to Vacate The Equal Pay Act Collective Action Award and Tolling Order. On March 19, 2018, the Arbitrator issued an Order partially granting SJI’s Motion to Amend the Arbitrator’s November 2, 2017, Bifurcated Seventh Amended Case Management Plan resulting in a continuance of the May 14, 2018 trial date, but did not set a new trial date. On January 15, 2018, District Court granted SJI’s August 17, 2017 Renewed Motion to Vacate the Class Determination Award finding that the Arbitrator exceeded her authority by binding non-parties (absent class members) to the Title VII claim. The District Court further held that the RESOLVE Agreement does not permit class action procedures, thereby, reducing the Claimants in the Title VII matter from 70,000 to potentially 254. Claimants disputed that the number of claimants in the Title VII is 254. On January 18, 2018, the Claimants filed a Notice of Appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. The appeal was fully briefed and oral argument before the Second Circuit occurred on May 7, 2018. On May 17, 2019, SJI submitted a Rule 28(j) letter to the Second Circuit addressing the effects of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Lamps Plus, Inc. v. Varela, No. 17-988 (S. Ct. Apr. 24, 2019), on the pending appeal. The Second Circuit then issued an order directing the parties to submit additional arguments on that issue, which were submitted. On November 18, 2019 the Second Circuit issued an order reversing and remanding the District Court’s January 15, 2018 Order that vacated the Arbitrator’s Class Determination Award certifying for declaratory and injunctive relief a Title VII pay and promotions class of female retail sales employees. The Second Circuit held that the District Court erred when it concluded that the Arbitrator exceeded her authority in purporting to bind absent class members to the Class Determination Award. The Second Circuit remanded the case to the District Court to decide the narrower question of whether the Arbitrator erred in certifying an opt-out, as opposed to a mandatory, class for declaratory and injunctive relief. On December 2, 2019, SJI filed a petition for a hearing en banc with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. On January 15, 2020, SJI filed a Rule 28(j) letter in the Second Circuit. On that same day the Second Circuit denied the petition for rehearing en banc. On January 21, 2020, Sterling filed its motion for stay of mandate with the Second Circuit pending the filing of a petition for writ of certiorari with the US Supreme Court. On January 22, 2020, the Second Circuit granted Sterling’s motion for stay of mandate. SJI’s petition for a writ of certiorari from the US Supreme Court was denied on October 5, 2020. On January 27, 2021 the District Court ordered the case remanded to the AAA for further proceedings in arbitration. Subsequently, the arbitrator retired and the parties selected a new arbitrator to oversee the proceedings moving forward. On October 8, 2021, the newly selected arbitrator issued an amended case management plan and scheduled the arbitration hearing to begin on September 5, 2022. At a hearing on November 30, 2021, the arbitrator denied Sterling’s motions to decertify the EPA collective action and the Title VII class promotion claims, and also denied Sterling’s motions for partial summary judgment.

SJI denies the allegations of the Claimants and has been defending the case vigorously. At this point, no outcome or possible loss or range of losses, if any, arising from the litigation is able to be estimated.

On May 5, 2017, without any findings of liability or wrongdoing, SJI entered into a Consent Decree with the EEOC settling a previously disclosed lawsuit that alleged that SJI engaged in intentional and disparate impact gender discrimination with respect to pay and promotions of female retail store employees since January 1, 2003. On May 5, 2017 the US District Court for the Western District of New York approved and entered the Consent Decree jointly proposed by the EEOC and SJI, resolving all of the EEOC’s claims against SJI in this litigation for various injunctive relief including but not limited to the appointment of an employment practices expert to review specific policies and practices, a compliance officer to be employed by SJI, as well as obligations relative to training, notices, reporting and record-keeping. The Consent Decree does not require an outside third-party monitor or require any monetary payment. The duration of the Consent Decree was three years and three months, expiring on August 4, 2020. On March 6, 2020, SJI and the EEOC filed their Joint Motion to Approve an Amendment to And Extension of the Term of the Consent Decree, which provides for a limited extension of a few aspects of the Consent Decree terms regarding SJI’s compensation practices, and incorporating its implementation of a new retail team member compensation program into the overall Consent Decree framework. This extension will enable SJI to implement changes to its retail team member compensation strategy and validate that the new program is consistent with the overall purposes of the Consent Decree. On March 11, 2020 the US District Court for the Western District of New York granted the joint motion and entered the parties’ Amendment to And Extension of the Term of the Consent Decree. The term of the amended Consent Decree was extended through November 4, 2021. On October 11, 2021, SJI and the EEOC agreed to a tolling stipulation, which was submitted on October 22, 2021 and entered by the US District Court for the Western District of New York on November 4, 2021, which extended certain deadlines of the Consent Decree until December 4, 2021. SJI and the EEOC are discussing the possibility of an additional extension of the tolling stipulation.

Shareholder actions

In August 2016, two alleged Company shareholders each filed a putative class action complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Company and its then-current Chief Executive Officer and current Chief Financial Officer (Nos. 16-cv-6728 and 16-cv-6861, the “S.D.N.Y. cases”). In 2017, three other Company shareholders each filed putative class action complaints (Nos. 17-cv-875, 17-cv-923, and 17-cv-9853) which were ultimately consolidated with the S.D.N.Y. cases under case number 16-cv-6728 (the “Consolidated Action”). The Consolidated Action was settled as further described below. The Consolidated

Action alleged that the defendants violated Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by, among other things, misrepresenting the Company’s business and earnings by making misleading statements about the Company’s credit portfolio and failing to disclose reports of sexual harassment allegations that were raised by claimants in an ongoing pay and promotion gender discrimination class arbitration.

On March 15, 2019, the lead plaintiff moved for appointment of a class representative and class counsel and for certification of a class period of August 29, 2013, through March 13, 2018. On July 10, 2019, the Court granted the motion and certified a class of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired Signet common stock from August 29, 2013 to May 25, 2017. The Court also appointed a class representative and class counsel.

On July 24, 2019, the defendants filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit a petition for permission to appeal the District Court’s class certification decision.

On March 16, 2020, the Company, all of the other defendant parties to the Consolidated Action, and the lead plaintiff entered into a settlement agreement in the Consolidated Action. The settlement of $240 million provides for the dismissal of the Consolidated Action with prejudice. The settlement agreement also states that the Company and all the other defendants expressly deny any and all allegations of fault, liability, wrongdoing, or damages whatsoever, and that defendants are entering into the settlement solely to eliminate the uncertainty, burden, and expense of further protracted litigation. As a result of the settlement, the Company recorded a charge of $33.2 million during the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2020 in other operating income, net, which includes administration costs of $0.6 million and was recorded net of expected recoveries from the Company’s insurance carriers of $207.4 million. The settlement was fully funded in the second quarter of Fiscal 2021, and the Company contributed approximately $35 million of the $240 million settlement payment, net of insurance proceeds and including the impact of foreign currency. The Court granted final approval of the settlement on July 21, 2020.

In 2019, four actions were filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by investment funds that allegedly purchased the Company’s stock (Nos. 19-cv-2757, 19-cv-2758, 19-cv-9916 and 19-cv-9917), and name the Company and its current and former Chief Executive Officers and Chief Financial Officers as defendants. All four complaints allege violations of Sections 10(b), 18, and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and common law fraud largely based on the same allegations as the Consolidated Action. Soon thereafter the Court entered orders staying these actions until entry of final judgment in the Consolidated Action.

On June 27, 2020, the Company and plaintiffs in the four stayed actions above reached a settlement in principle, which was finalized on July 10, 2020 requiring the Opt-Out Plaintiffs to rejoin the Consolidated Action. The Company recorded a pre-tax charge of $7.5 million, net of expected insurance recovery, during Fiscal 2021 in anticipation of those four settlements. The final amount of the settlement and net charge are dependent upon the amount the Opt-Out Plaintiffs receive as part of the Consolidated Action and is not expected to be materially different than the amounts recorded. The initial portion of the settlement due to the Opt-Out Plaintiffs under the settlement agreement was paid in August 2020.