XML 34 R24.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.23.1
Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2023
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. Undiscounted accrued environmental reserves at both March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 were not material.
Legal Proceedings
Stainless Steel Cryobiological Tank Legal Proceedings
In connection with our divestiture of our cryobiological products business, Chart retained certain potential liabilities, including claims in connection with lawsuits filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and the San Francisco Superior Court during the second quarter of 2018 against Chart and other defendants with respect to the alleged failure of a stainless steel cryobiological storage tank at the Pacific Fertility Center in San Francisco, California.
The Company reached a settlement in late January 2023 to resolve these cases. This settlement resolved the prior verdict against Chart for the five federal lawsuits that went to trial in June of 2021, which was on appeal, as well as the previously disclosed Starr insurance dispute. The settlement was finalized and funded on March 20, 2023.
While the settlement was finalized and funded on March 20, 2023, we continue to evaluate the merits of the sole remaining lawsuit that is not included in the settlement in light of the information available. Based on the status of that lawsuit, a current estimate of reasonably possible losses in that case cannot be made; however, the Company does not anticipate the potential exposure to be material.
In the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company took a loss contingency accrual of $305.6 and a related loss receivable of $231.9 from insurance proceeds from these combined cases which were recognized in our consolidated balance sheet as of December 31, 2022. The net loss of approximately $73.0 was recognized in discontinued operations and represented the expected out-of-pocket, payments in connection with these settlements. The settlement was finalized and funded on March 20, 2023, therefore the loss contingency accrual and related loss receivable are no longer recorded as of March 31, 2023. This settlement and the net out-of-pocket payments do not reflect third party recoveries which the Company is pursuing with respect to the underlying facts in these cases, and which the Company currently anticipates will result in recoveries approximating one-quarter or more of the Company’s out-of-pocket, net payments.
We are occasionally subject to various legal claims related to performance under contracts, product liability, taxes, employment matters, environmental matters, intellectual property, and other matters incidental to the normal course of our business. Based on our historical experience in litigating these claims, as well as our current assessment of the underlying merits of the claims and applicable insurance, if any, management believes that the final resolution of these matters, including the Pacific Fertility Center cases described above, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial position, liquidity, cash flows, or results of operations, except that our results of operations for any particular reporting period may be adversely affected by any potential or actual loss that is accrued in such period.