Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2021

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

Commitments and Contingencies

Environmental

We are subject to federal, state, local, and foreign environmental laws and regulations concerning, among other matters, waste water effluents, air emissions, and handling and disposal of hazardous materials, such as cleaning fluids. We are involved with environmental compliance, investigation, monitoring, and remediation activities at certain of our owned and formerly owned manufacturing facilities and at one owned facility that is leased to a third party, and, except for these continuing remediation efforts, believe we are currently in substantial compliance with all known environmental regulations. At December 31, 2021 and 2020, we had undiscounted accrued environmental reserves of $0.2 and $0.3, respectively.

Legal Proceedings

In connection with our divestiture of our Cryobiological business, Chart retained certain potential liabilities, including claims in connection with our following litigation. During the second quarter of 2018, Chart was named in lawsuits (including lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California) filed against Chart and other defendants with respect to the alleged failure of a stainless steel cryobiological storage tank (model MVE 808AF-GB) at the Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco, California. In May and June of 2021, the first five of the federal lawsuits went to trial, and on June 10, 2021, the jury reached a verdict against Chart in favor of the plaintiffs in those lawsuits in the amount of $14.9, of which 90% ($13.5) is attributable to Chart. On August 13, 2021, judgment was entered, and on September 10, 2021, we filed two post-trial motions: a motion for a new trial and a renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law. The motion for new trial or, in the alternative, request for remittitur, sought, among other relief, to have the court grant a new trial because of erroneous evidentiary rulings, a factually unsupported negligence claim, plaintiffs’ attorney misconduct, allocation of fault that was not supported by the record, and excessive noneconomic damages. The renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law sought to have the court direct judgment for Chart on the negligent failure to recall claim because of our contention that plaintiffs failed to present sufficient evidence to prove each element of that claim. On November 5, 2021, the court denied these post-trial motions. Chart filed its notice of appeal on December 1, 2021. On December 7, 2021, the court stayed the remaining federal lawsuits pending resolution of Chart’s appeal.

In the second quarter 2021, we recorded a loss contingency accrual and corresponding charge to net income for $13.5 in the amount of the jury verdict attributable to Chart. The loss contingency accrual is included in other current liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2021. Chart expects that any potential loss associated with the verdict will be covered by existing product liability insurance, subject to previously issued reservations of rights by the insurance carriers. Accordingly, we have recorded an offsetting $13.5 loss recovery receivable with a corresponding credit to net income. The loss

recovery receivable is included in other current assets in our consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2021. Although we continue to vigorously contest the result in this case, we continue to recognize the loss contingency accrual and related loss recovery receivable in our consolidated balance sheet at December 31, 2021.

Currently there are 164 individual cases (excluding the first five cases from the May/June 2021 trial) with respect to the Pacific Fertility Center incident on the docket in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In addition to the cases filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, Chart is currently a defendant in 53 individual cases in the San Francisco Superior Court.