Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Update

We or our subsidiaries may at any one time be parties to lawsuits arising out of our respective operations, including workers’ compensation or workplace safety cases, some of which involve claims of substantial damages. Although there can be

no assurance, based upon information known to us, we do not believe that any liability which might result from an adverse determination of such lawsuits would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.

As previously reported, KEMET and KEC, along with more than 20 other capacitor manufacturers and subsidiaries were named as defendants in a purported antitrust class action complaint, In re: Capacitors Antitrust Litigation, No. 3:14-cv-03264-JD, filed on December 4, 2014 with the United States District Court, Northern District of California (the “U.S. Class Action Complaint”). The complaint alleged a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, for which it sought injunctive and equitable relief and money damages. On November 8, 2019 KEMET and KEC entered into a settlement agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with the plaintiffs in the U.S. Class Action Complaint by which, in consideration for the release of KEMET, KEC, and their affiliates from all claims relating in any way to the conduct alleged in the U.S. Class Action Complaint and from claims which could have been asserted in the U.S. Class Action Complaint to the extent they relate to the sale of capacitors in the United States, KEMET agreed to pay an aggregate of $62.0 million to the settlement class of plaintiffs. The Settlement Agreement is subject to court approval. Pursuant to the terms of the Settlement Agreement, KEMET paid $10.0 million into an escrow account on December 6, 2019. The remaining amount will be paid by KEMET within 12 months of the date of the Settlement Agreement. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement KEMET and KEC did not admit to any violation of any statute or law or any liability or wrongdoing.

In addition, as previously reported, KEMET and KEC, along with certain other capacitor manufacturers and subsidiaries (including TOKIN, as described below), were named as defendants in several additional suits that were filed in Canada (collectively, the “Canadian Complaints”): Badamshin v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed August 6, 2014 in the Superior Court, Province of Quebec, District of Montreal; Herard v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed August 6, 2014 in the Superior Court, Province of Quebec, District of Montreal; Cygnus Electronics Corporation v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed August 6, 2014 in the Superior Court of Justice, Province of Ontario; LeClaire v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed August 6, 2014 in the Superior Court, Province of Quebec, District of Montreal; Taylor v Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed August 11, 2014 in the Superior Court of Justice, Province of Ontario; Ramsay v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed August 14, 2014 in the Supreme Court, Province of British Columbia; Martin v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed September 25, 2014 in the Superior Court, Province of Quebec, District of Montreal; Parikh v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed October 3, 2014 in the Superior Court of Justice, Province of Ontario; Fraser v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed October 3, 2014 in the Court of Queen’s Bench, Province of Saskatchewan; Pickering v. Panasonic Corporation, et al., filed October 6, 2014 in the Supreme Court, Province of British Columbia; McPherson v Panasonic Corporation et al., filed on November 6, 2014 in the Court of Queen’s Bench, Province of Manitoba; and Allott v AVX Corporation, et al., filed on May 13, 2016 in the Superior Court of Justice, Province of Ontario. The Canadian Complaints generally allege the same unlawful acts as in the U.S. Class Action Complaint, assert claims under Canada’s Competition Act as well as various civil and common law causes of action, and seek injunctive and equitable relief and money damages.

On December 6, 2018 the claims against KEMET and KEC in Leclaire were dismissed. In addition, Parikh and Taylor have been stayed in favor of Cygnus, and Badamshin, Martin and Herard have been stayed in favor of LeClaire. Further, on November 18, 2018, the Ontario Supreme Court of Justice temporarily stayed Cygnus pending the outcome of a matter on appeal concerning class certification, and the Ramsay plaintiffs voluntarily suspended that proceeding until class certification for Cygnus has been determined.

TOKIN-Specific Legal Proceedings

As previously reported, on September 2, 2015, the United States Department of Justice announced a plea agreement with TOKIN in which TOKIN agreed to plead guilty to a one-count felony charge of unreasonable restraint of interstate and foreign trade and commerce in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act, and to pay a criminal fine of $13.8 million. The plea agreement was approved by the United States District Court, Northern District of California, on January 21, 2016. The fine is payable over 5 years in six installments of $2.3 million each, plus accrued interest. TOKIN has paid the first five installments, with the final payment due January 21, 2021.

As previously reported, on December 21, 2015, the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission (“TFTC”) notified TOKIN of its decision to impose an administrative fine on TOKIN of NTD 609.1 million (approximately $20.2 million) for violation of the Taiwan Fair Trade Act. TOKIN filed its appeal of the TFTC's decision with the Taipei High Administrative Court on January 15, 2016. On August 23, 2018, the Taipei High Administrative Court issued its judgment dismissing TFTC's fine decision, against which TFTC submitted its petition for appeal to the Taiwan Administrative Supreme Court. On December 31, 2019, the Taiwan Administrative Supreme Court granted judgment in favor of the TFTC appeal, but directed the TFTC to recalculate the

fine, in part by excluding the revenues of TOKIN’s subsidiaries which had been included in the calculations of the original fine. The TFTC’s revised fine determination is expected during the summer 2020. On March 17, 2020, the TFTC refunded to TOKIN the NTD 243.6 million (approximately $8.1 million) which TOKIN had paid under the original fine; subject to any rights of appeal, TOKIN remains liable for full payment of the revised fine. The Company has recorded this refund of $8.1 million as restricted cash, which is a component of “Prepaid expenses and other current assets” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of March 31, 2020.

As previously reported, on March 21, 2018, the European Commission announced a decision by which TOKIN was fined EUR 8.8 million (approximately $10.3 million) directly and EUR 5.0 million (approximately $5.9 million) jointly and severally with NEC Corporation, for violation of the competition laws of the European Union. Payment of the fines were made on June 28, 2018. On June 4, 2018, TOKIN filed an appeal with the General Court of the European Union, seeking annulment and/or reduction of the fines.

As previously reported, on November 30, 2018, the Korean Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) notified TOKIN of its decision to impose an administrative fine on TOKIN of KRW 8.1 billion (approximately $7.2 million) for violation of South Korea's Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Law. TOKIN filed its appeal of the KFTC's decision with the Seoul High Court on December 28, 2018. Payment of the fine is not stayed during appeal; TOKIN paid the full fine amount on February 1, 2019. On December 11, 2019, the Seoul High Court issued its judgment, dismissing TOKIN’s appeal. On December 31, 2019, TOKIN submitted its petition for appeal of the High Court’s decision to the Supreme Court of Korea.

As noted above, TOKIN, along with KEMET and certain of its other subsidiaries, were named as defendants in the Canadian Complaints. On May 30, 2018, TOKIN entered into a definitive settlement agreement with the plaintiffs in the Canadian Complaints Pursuant to the terms of the settlement agreement, in consideration of the release of TOKIN and its subsidiaries (including TOKIN America, Inc.) from claims asserted in the Canadian Complaints, TOKIN paid CAD 2.9 million (approximately $2.2 million) to a settlement class of purchasers of aluminum and tantalum electrolytic capacitors and purchasers of products containing such capacitors. The settlement payment was made on June 27, 2018. On January 20, 2020, the Supreme Court of British Columbia approved the settlement agreement, completing all required approvals.

As previously reported, on July 2, 2018, TOKIN and TOKIN America Inc. were named as two of 20 defendants in a purported U.S. class action antitrust lawsuit, In re: Inductors Antitrust Litigation, No. 5:18-cv-00198-EJD-NC, filed in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, regarding the sale of inductors brought on behalf of direct product purchasers and indirect product purchasers. The complaint alleged violations of Sections 1 and 3 of the Sherman Act, for which it sought injunctive and equitable relief and money damages. On September 24, 2019, the Court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss the lawsuit; the plaintiffs were granted leave to amend the complaint. On November 20, 2019, the plaintiffs filed their amended complaint, in which TOKIN and TOKIN America Inc. remained as two of 21 named defendants. On January 15, 2020, TOKIN and TOKIN America filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint; the plaintiffs’ motion in opposition was filed on March 16.

As of March 31, 2020, the Company's accrual for antitrust and civil litigation claims totaled $77.4 million. This amount includes the best estimate of losses which may result from the ongoing antitrust investigations, civil litigation and claims. However, the actual outcomes could differ from what has been accrued.