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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2022
Commitments and Contingencies  
Commitments and Contingencies

8. Commitments and Contingencies

On June 7, 2018, the California Department of Industrial Relations issued a $4.2 million wage citation jointly against the Company and our vendor that provides janitorial services to eight of our Southern California restaurants, alleging that the janitorial vendor or its subcontractor failed to comply with various provisions of the California Labor Code (Wage Citation Case No. 35-CM-188798-16). The wage citation seeks to recover penalties and other monetary payments on behalf of the employees that worked for this vendor or its subcontractor. On June 28, 2018, we filed an appeal of the wage citation. On July 7, 2022, the parties participated in voluntary mediation and reached a tentative settlement on the wage citation. The settlement is subject to documentation and final agency approval. We have reserved an immaterial amount for settlement purposes.

On June 22, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service issued a Notice of Deficiency in which they disallowed a portion of our §199 Domestic Production Activities Deduction for tax years 2010, 2011 and 2012. On September 11, 2018, we petitioned the United States Tax Court for a redetermination of the deficiency. The tax court assigned docket number 18150-18 to our case. On April 29, 2022, the parties filed a Settlement Stipulation and a Proposed Stipulated Decision (the “Decision”) with the tax court stipulating to the amount of income tax deficiency. On May 11, 2022, the court entered the Decision in accordance with the stipulation of the parties. We have recorded an immaterial amount in connection with the Decision.

Within the ordinary course of our business, we are subject to private lawsuits, government audits and investigations, administrative proceedings and other claims. These matters typically involve claims from customers, staff members and others related to operational and employment issues common to the foodservice industry. A number of these claims may exist at any given time, and some of the claims may be pled as class actions. From time to time, we are also involved in lawsuits with respect to infringements of, or challenges to, our registered trademarks and other intellectual property, both domestically and abroad. We could be affected by adverse publicity and litigation costs resulting from such allegations, regardless of whether they are valid or whether we are legally determined to be liable.

At this time, we believe that the amount of reasonably possible losses resulting from final disposition of any pending lawsuits, audits, investigations, proceedings and claims will not have a material adverse effect individually or in the aggregate on our financial position, results of operations or liquidity. It is possible, however, that our future results of operations for a particular quarter or fiscal year could be impacted by changes in circumstances relating to lawsuits, audits, proceedings or claims. Legal costs related to such claims are expensed as incurred.