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Commitments and Contingencies
 9 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies Commitments and Contingencies
Indemnifications
In the ordinary course of business, we may provide indemnifications of varying scope and terms to customers, vendors, lessors, business partners, subsidiaries and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses arising out of our breach of agreements or representations and warranties made by us. In addition, our bylaws contain indemnification obligations to our directors, officers, employees, and agents, and we have entered into indemnification agreements with our directors and certain of our officers to give such directors and officers additional contractual assurances regarding the scope of the indemnification set forth in our bylaws and to provide additional procedural protections. We maintain director and officer insurance, which may cover certain liabilities arising from our obligation to indemnify our directors and officers. It is not possible to determine the aggregate maximum potential loss under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Such indemnification agreements might not be subject to maximum loss clauses. Historically, we have not incurred material costs as a result of obligations under these agreements, and we have not accrued any material liabilities related to such indemnification obligations in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
In connection with the sale of Veritas and the sale of our Enterprise Security business to Broadcom, we assigned several leases to Veritas Technologies LLC or Broadcom and/or their related subsidiaries. As a condition to consenting to the assignments, certain lessors required us to agree to indemnify the lessor under the applicable lease with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses arising out of Veritas Technologies LLC, Broadcom, or their related subsidiaries’ breach of payment obligations under the terms of the lease. As with our other indemnification obligations discussed above and in general, it is not possible to determine the aggregate maximum potential loss under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. As with our other indemnification obligations, such indemnification agreements might not be subject to maximum loss clauses, and to date, generally under our real estate obligations, we have not incurred material costs as a result of such obligations under our leases and have not accrued any liabilities related to such indemnification obligations in our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.
We provide limited product warranties, and the majority of our software license agreements contain provisions that indemnify licensees of our software from damages and costs resulting from claims alleging that our software infringes on the intellectual property rights of a third party. Historically, payments made under these provisions have been immaterial. We monitor the conditions that are subject to indemnification to identify if a loss has occurred.
Litigation contingencies
SEC Investigation
As previously disclosed in our public filings, the Audit Committee of our Board of Directors (the Audit Committee) completed its internal investigation (the Audit Committee Investigation) in September 2018. In connection with the Audit Committee Investigation, we voluntarily contacted the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in April 2018. The SEC commenced a formal investigation, and we continue to cooperate with that investigation. The outcome of such an investigation is difficult to predict. We have incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenses related to legal and other professional services in connection with the SEC investigation. At this stage, we are unable to assess whether any material loss or adverse effect is reasonably possible as a result of the SEC’s investigation or estimate the range of any potential loss.
Securities Class Action and Derivative Litigation
Securities class action lawsuits, which have since been consolidated, were filed in May 2018 against us and certain of our former officers, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. The lead plaintiff’s consolidated amended complaint alleged that, during a purported class period of May 11, 2017 to August 2, 2018, defendants made false and misleading statements in violation of Sections 10(b) and 20(a), and that certain individuals violated Section 20A, of the Securities Exchange Act. Defendants filed motions to dismiss, which the Court granted in an order dated June 14, 2019. Pursuant to that order, plaintiff filed a motion seeking leave to amend and a proposed first amended complaint on July 11, 2019. The Court granted the motion in part on October 2, 2019 and the first amended complaint was filed on October 11, 2019. The Court’s order dismissed certain claims against certain of our former officers. Defendants filed answers on November 7, 2019. On April 20, 2021, to resolve an alleged conflict of interest raised with respect to the lead plaintiff and its counsel, the Court ordered a second Class Notice disclosing the circumstances of the alleged conflict and providing a further period for class members to opt out, which closed on July 2, 2021. The initial class opt out period closed on August 25, 2020.
On May 24, 2021, the parties reached a proposed settlement and release of all claims in the class action, for $70 million, and on June 8, 2021, the parties executed a Stipulation and Agreement of Settlement, subject to Court approval and exclusive of any
claims that may be brought by shareholders who opted out of the class action. Of the $70M, $67.1 million was covered under the applicable insurance policy with the remainder to be paid by the Company. On July 6, 2021, the plaintiff filed its Motion for Preliminary Settlement Approval and the Court preliminary approved the settlement on September 12, 2021. The Court also ordered an additional opt-out period extending until January 13, 2022. The Settlement Fairness Hearing is set for February 12, 2022.
On November 22, 2021, investment funds managed by Orbis Investment Management Ltd. which previously opted out of the securities class action, filed suit under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, Arizona Securities Act, Arizona Consumer Fraud Act and certain common law causes of action to recover alleged damages for losses incurred by the funds for their purchases or acquisitions of the our common stock during the class period. Our deadline to respond to the complaint is February 24, 2022. At this stage, we are unable to assess whether any adverse effect is reasonably possible as a result of the Orbis lawsuit or estimate the range of any potential loss.
Purported shareholder derivative lawsuits have been filed against us and certain of our former officers and current and former directors in the U.S. District Courts for the District of Delaware and the Northern District of California, Delaware Chancery Court, and Delaware Superior Court, arising generally out of the same facts and circumstances as alleged in the securities class action and alleging claims for breach of fiduciary duty and related claims; these lawsuits include an action brought derivatively on behalf of our 2008 Employee Stock Purchase Plan. The derivative actions are currently voluntarily stayed in light of the securities class action. No specific amount of damages has been alleged in these lawsuits. We have also received demands from purported stockholders to inspect corporate books and records under Delaware law. At this stage, we are unable to assess whether any material loss or adverse effect is reasonably possible as a result of the derivative lawsuits or estimate the range of any potential loss.
We will continue to incur legal fees in connection with these pending cases and demands, including expenses for the reimbursement of legal fees of present and former officers and directors under indemnification obligations. The expense of continuing to defend such litigation may be significant. We intend to defend these lawsuits vigorously, but there can be no assurance that we will be successful in any defense. If any of the lawsuits are decided adversely, we may be liable for significant damages directly or under our indemnification obligations, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and cash flows.
GSA
During the first quarter of fiscal 2013, we were advised by the Commercial Litigation Branch of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Division and the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia that the government is investigating our compliance with certain provisions of our U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Multiple Award Schedule Contract No. GS-35F-0240T effective January 24, 2007, including provisions relating to pricing, country of origin, accessibility, and the disclosure of commercial sales practices.
As reported on the GSA’s publicly-available database, our total sales under the GSA Schedule contract were approximately $222 million from the period beginning January 2007 and ending September 2012. We fully cooperated with the government throughout its investigation, and in January 2014, representatives of the government indicated that their initial analysis of our actual damages exposure from direct government sales under the GSA Schedule contract was approximately $145 million; since the initial meeting, the government’s analysis of our potential damages exposure relating to direct sales has increased. The government also indicated they would pursue claims for certain sales to California, Florida, and New York as well as sales to the federal government through reseller GSA Schedule contracts, which could significantly increase our potential damages exposure.
In 2012, a sealed civil lawsuit was filed against us related to compliance with the GSA Schedule contract and contracts with California, Florida, and New York. On July 18, 2014, the Court-imposed seal expired, and the government intervened in the lawsuit. On September 16, 2014, the states of California and Florida intervened in the lawsuit, and the state of New York notified the Court that it would not intervene. On October 3, 2014, the DOJ filed an amended complaint, which did not state a specific damages amount. On October 17, 2014, California and Florida combined their claims with those of the DOJ and the relator on behalf of New York in an Omnibus Complaint, and a First Amended Omnibus Complaint was filed on October 8, 2015; the state claims also do not state specific damages amounts. On June 6, 2019, we filed a motion seeking summary judgment on all claims asserted by all plaintiffs, and the plaintiffs filed a motion for partial summary judgment on elements of liability on their claims. On October 21, 2019, the DOJ moved for a Prejudgment Writ of Sequestration for the Company to set aside $1,090 million to pay a judgment, should the United States prevail in this litigation, under the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act. The Writ was sought in response to the Company’s announcement of its plans to distribute the after-tax proceeds of the sale of the Symantec enterprise business to Broadcom to its shareholders via a special dividend. The Court denied the Writ on December 12, 2019, on the basis of the Government’s failure to establish the “probable validity” of the debt, the amount sought to be sequestered, and the Company’s available cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. The Court permitted the DOJ limited discovery of facts relevant to the Company’s financial state and financial projections and the option to renew its motion if appropriate and supported by the analysis of its own financial expert. That discovery period has now closed. On March 30, 2020, the Court issued an Order granting in part and denying in part our motion for summary judgment and granting in part and denying in part the United States’ motion for partial summary judgment. On September 30, 2020, the Company filed a Motion for Reconsideration of certain rulings in the Court’s March 30 Summary Judgment Order. A second Motion for Reconsideration of certain rulings in the Summary Judgement Order based on significant change in the law was filed on July 23, 2021. Both Motions for Reconsideration were denied. Court ordered mediations in July 2020 and February 2021 were not successful.
The trial date has now been continued until February 28, 2022. On March 23, 2021, Plaintiffs withdrew their demand for a jury trial and the Company consented to proceed with a bench trial. On May 13, 2021, we reached a settlement in principle with the State of Florida to resolve all claims it asserted in the litigation for $0.5 million. The issue of relator’s statutory attorney’s fees with respect to the State of Florida’s claims remains unresolved. At this time, our current estimate of the low end of the range of probable estimated losses from this matter is $50 million, inclusive of the settlement with the State of Florida, which we have accrued. It is possible that the litigation could lead to claims or findings of violations of the False Claims Act and could be material to our results of operations and cash flows for any period. Resolution of False Claims Act investigations can ultimately result in the payment of somewhere between one and three times the actual damages proven by the government, plus civil penalties. There is at least a reasonable possibility that a loss may have been incurred in excess of our accrual for this matter.
Holden v. NortonLifeLock
On February 8, 2021, Lauren Holden filed a putative class action in the Circuit Court for Duval County, Florida alleging that the Company violated the Florida wiretapping statute, Florida Security of Communications Act, Fla. Stat. Ann. § 934.01, et. seq., through the use of session replay technology on www.us.norton.com. The complaint defines the class as consisting of Florida residents who visited the website and whose electronic communications were alleged to have been intercepted by the Company without prior consent and, on behalf of the class, seeks statutory damages, attorney’s fees and costs, and injunctive relief. On March 12, 2021, the Company removed the case to the District Court for the Middle District of Florida and filed its Answer and Affirmative Defenses to the complaint. The Company then filed a Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings on April 20, 2021. On April 29, 2021, Plaintiff filed a Motion for Leave to File an Amended Complaint. On July 22, 2021, the Court granted Plaintiff leave to file an amended complaint and deemed the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings moot. On August 5, 2021, the Company filed a Motion to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint. On September 9, 2021, the Plaintiff filed a Notice of Voluntary Dismissal Without Prejudice and the Court entered an Order on September 16, 2021, dismissing the case without prejudice.
Other
We are involved in a number of other judicial and administrative proceedings that are incidental to our business. Although adverse decisions (or settlements) may occur in one or more of the cases, it is not possible to estimate the possible loss or losses from each of these cases. The final resolution of these lawsuits, individually or in the aggregate, is not expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, financial condition or cash flows.