Litigation

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Litigation

Note Q – Litigation

In July 2014, we received a subpoena from the District Attorney of the County of Alameda, along with other environmental prosecutorial offices in the State of California, seeking documents and information related to the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous waste; a Complaint regarding the matter was subsequently filed by the District Attorney and the State Attorney General’s Office. The Company cooperated fully with the District Attorney and the State Attorney General’s Office to resolve the matter in fiscal 2019 without a finding of liability on the part of the Company. The amount the Company agreed to pay was within the amount previously accrued by the Company for the matter.

Arising out of an April 2016 letter from the California Air Resources Board (“CARB”), one of our formerly-owned subsidiaries was sued in March 2018 by CARB and the State of California seeking penalties, among other relief, for alleged violations of the California Health and Safety Code, Title 13 of the California Code of Regulations and the California Vehicle Code related to the sale and advertisement of certain aftermarket motor vehicle pollution control parts in the State of California. On February 26, 2018, we completed our transaction to sell substantially all the assets, net of assumed liabilities related to our AutoAnything operations. As part of the sale, we retained the liability related to this lawsuit. The Company cooperated fully with CARB and the State Attorney General’s Office to resolve the matter in fiscal 2019 without a finding of liability on the part of the Company. The amount the Company agreed to pay was within the amount previously accrued by the Company for the matter.

The Company is involved in various other legal proceedings incidental to the conduct of its business, including, but not limited to, several lawsuits containing class-action allegations in which the plaintiffs are current and former hourly and salaried employees who allege various wage and hour violations and unlawful termination practices. The Company does not currently believe that, either individually or in the aggregate, these matters will result in liabilities material to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.