Commitments and Contingencies (Notes)

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Asbestos

As of September 30, 2023, the Company was a party to 459 pending cases involving an aggregate of 4,860 claimants primarily alleging personal injury from exposure to asbestos containing materials formerly used in gaskets (both encapsulated and otherwise) manufactured or distributed by its former Lamons division and certain other related subsidiaries for use primarily in the petrochemical, refining and exploration industries. The following chart summarizes the number of claims, number of claims filed, number of claims dismissed, number of claims settled, the average settlement amount per claim and the total defense costs, at the applicable date and for the applicable periods:


	Claims pending at beginning of period	Claims filed during period	Claims dismissed during period	Claims settled during period	Claims pending at end of period	Average settlement amount per claim during period		Total defense costs during period
Nine Months Ended September 30, 2023	4,798	195	111	22	4,860	$	19,727	$	1,340,000
Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2022	4,754	236	168	24	4,798	$	79,869	$	2,180,000

In addition, the Company acquired various companies to distribute its products that had distributed gaskets of other manufacturers prior to acquisition. The Company believes that many of its pending cases relate to locations at which none of its gaskets were distributed or used.

The Company may be subjected to significant additional asbestos-related claims in the future, and will aggressively defend or reasonably resolve, as appropriate. The cost of settling cases in which product identification can be made may increase, and the Company may be subjected to further claims in respect of the former activities of its acquired gasket distributors. The cost of claims varies as claims may be initially made in some jurisdictions without specifying the amount sought or by simply stating the requisite or maximum permissible monetary relief, and may be amended to alter the amount sought. The large majority of claims do not specify the amount sought. Of the 4,860 claims pending at September 30, 2023, 42 set forth specific amounts of damages (other than those stating the statutory minimum or maximum). At September 30, 2023, of the 42 claims that set forth specific amounts, there were no claims seeking more than $5 million for punitive damages. Below is a breakdown of the compensatory damages sought for those claims seeking specific amounts:

Compensatory

Range of damages sought (dollars in millions)

$0.0 to $0.6

$0.6 to $5.0

$5.0+

Number of claims

—

Relatively few claims have reached the discovery stage and even fewer claims have gone past the discovery stage. Total settlement costs (exclusive of defense costs) for all such cases, some of which were filed over 30 years ago, have been $12.9 million. All relief sought in the asbestos cases is monetary in nature. Based on the settlements made to date and the number of claims dismissed or withdrawn for lack of product identification, the Company believes that the relief sought (when specified) does not bear a reasonable relationship to its potential liability.

The Company records a liability for asbestos-related claims, which includes both known and unknown claims, based on a study from the Company’s third-party actuary, the Company's review of the study, as well as the Company’s own review of asbestos claims and claim resolution activity.

In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company commissioned its actuary to update the study, based on data as of September 30, 2022, which yielded a range of possible future liability of $29.6 million to $39.5 million. The Company did not believe any amount within the range of potential outcomes represented a better estimate than another given the many factors and assumptions inherent in the projections, and therefore recorded a non-cash, pre-tax charge of $5.6 million to increase the liability estimate to $29.6 million, at the low-end of the range. As of September 30, 2023, the Company’s total asbestos-related liability is $27.3 million, and is included in accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities, respectively, in the accompanying consolidated balance sheet.

The Company’s primary insurance, which covered approximately 40% of historical costs related to settlement and defense of asbestos litigation, expired in November 2018, upon which the Company became solely responsible for defense costs and indemnity payments. The Company is party to a coverage-in-place agreement (entered into in 2006) with its first level excess carriers regarding the coverage to be provided to the Company for asbestos-related claims. The coverage-in-place agreement makes asbestos defense costs and indemnity insurance coverage available to the Company that might otherwise be disputed by the carriers and provides a methodology for the administration of such expenses. The Company will continue to be solely responsible for defense costs and indemnity payments prior to the commencement of coverage under this agreement, the duration of which would be subject to the scope of damage awards and settlements paid. Based upon the Company’s review of the actuarial study, the Company does not believe it is probable that it will reach the threshold of qualified future settlements required to commence excess carrier insurance coverage under the coverage-in-place agreement.

Based upon the Company's experience to date, including the trend in annual defense and settlement costs incurred to date, and other available information (including the availability of excess insurance), the Company does not believe these cases will have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Claims and Litigation

The Company is subject to other claims and litigation in the ordinary course of business, but does not believe that any such claim or litigation will have a material adverse effect on its financial position and results of operations or cash flows.