Legal Proceedings

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Legal Proceedings

Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, we are involved in various legal proceedings that are pending against us and our affiliates alleging, among other things, breach of contract or tort in connection with the performance of professional services, the various outcomes of which cannot be predicted with certainty. The most significant of these proceedings are as follows:

• US Highway 20 Project: Our wholly owned subsidiaries, GCCO and Granite Northwest, Inc., are members of a joint venture known as YRC which is contracted by ODOT to construct a new road alignment of US Highway 20 near Eddyville, Oregon. The project involves constructing seven miles of new road through steep and forested terrain in the Coast Range Mountains. During the fall and winter of 2006, extraordinary rain events produced runoff that overwhelmed installed erosion control measures and resulted in discharges to surface water and alleged violations of YRC’s stormwater permit. In June 2009, YRC was informed that the U.S. Department of Justice (“USDOJ”) had assumed the criminal investigation that the Oregon Department of Justice had initiated in connection with stormwater runoff from the project. Although the USDOJ has informed YRC that the USDOJ will not criminally charge YRC or any Granite affiliate in connection with these matters, the USDOJ informed YRC it was continuing to seek an unspecified civil penalty which we are seeking to resolve. Under certain circumstances the resolution of this matter could have direct or indirect consequences that could have a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, cash flow and/or liquidity.

• Grand Avenue Project DBE Issues: On March 6, 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) served upon our wholly-owned subsidiary, Granite Construction Northeast, Inc. (“Granite Northeast”), a United States District Court Eastern District of New York subpoena to testify before a grand jury by producing documents. The subpoena seeks all documents pertaining to the use of a DBE firm (the “Subcontractor”), and the Subcontractor’s use of a non-DBE lower tier subcontractor/consultant, on the Grand Avenue Bus Depot and Central Maintenance Facility for the Borough of Queens Project, a Granite Northeast project.  The subpoena also seeks any documents regarding the use of the Subcontractor as a DBE on any other projects and any other documents related to the Subcontractor or to the lower-tier subcontractor/consultant.  We have received two follow-up requests from the USDOJ for additional information and documents.  We have complied with the subpoena and the requests, and are fully cooperating with the OIG’s investigation. To date, Granite Northeast has not been notified that it is either a subject or target of the OIG’s investigation. Accordingly, we do not know whether any criminal charges or civil lawsuits will be brought against any party as a result of the investigation. We cannot, however, rule out the possibility of civil or criminal actions or administrative sanctions being brought against Granite Northeast.

• Other Legal Proceedings/Government Inquiries: We are a party to a number of other legal proceedings arising in the normal course of business. From time to time, we also receive inquiries from public agencies seeking information concerning our compliance with government construction contracting requirements and related laws and regulations. We believe that the nature and number of these proceedings and compliance inquiries are typical for a construction firm of our size and scope. Our litigation typically involves claims regarding public liability or contract related issues. While management currently believes, after consultation with counsel, that the ultimate outcome of pending proceedings and compliance inquiries, individually and in the aggregate, will not have a material adverse affect on our financial position or overall trends in results of operations or cash flows, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties. Were one or more unfavorable rulings to occur, there exists the possibility of a material adverse effect on our financial position, results of operations, cash flows and/or liquidity for the period in which the ruling occurs. In addition, our government contracts could be terminated, we could be suspended or debarred, or payment of our costs disallowed. While any one of our pending legal proceedings is subject to early resolution as a result of our ongoing efforts to settle, whether or when any legal proceeding will be resolved through settlement is neither predictable nor guaranteed.

We record amounts in our condensed consolidated balance sheets representing our estimated liability relating to legal proceedings and government inquiries. During the three months ended March 31, 2012 and 2011, there were no significant additions or revisions to the estimated liability that were recorded in our condensed consolidated statements of operations, or significant changes to our accrual for such ligation loss contingencies on our condensed consolidated balance sheets.