Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Jan. 29, 2022

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES:

Leases

    Information regarding our lease commitments and contingencies, including total rent expense under operating leases and minimum future rental payments under non-cancelable operating leases (including leases with certain minimum sales cancellation clauses and exclusive of variable common area maintenance charges and/or contingent rental payments based on sales), as of January 29, 2022 as discussed further in Note 11.

Open Purchase Orders

At January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, we had approximately $517.3 million and $256.1 million, respectively, of open purchase orders for inventory, in the normal course of business.

Legal Proceedings

In February 2021, the Company was named as a defendant in Mercedes Haldy, et al. v. White House Black Market, Inc. (“WHBM”), et al., a putative class action filed in the Superior Court of California, Orange County, and subsequently removed to the United States District Court, Central District of California (“Haldy”). The Haldy complaint alleges numerous violations of California law related to payment of wages and other compensation, meal periods, rest periods, and wage statements, among other things. Plaintiff seeks to represent a class of current and former nonexempt employees of WHBM and Chico’s stores in California.

In August 2021, the Company was named as a defendant in Margarita Hernandez v. Chico’s FAS, Inc., et al., a putative class action filed in the Superior Court of California, Orange County seeking to represent a class of current and former

nonexempt employees of Chico’s, WHBM and Soma stores in California (“Hernandez”). The Hernandez complaint alleges many of the same wage and labor violations as the Haldy complaint and seeks the same relief.

During a mediation in September 2021, the Company reached an agreement in principle to settle the above cases. A Memorandum of Understanding was entered into by all parties as of October 18, 2021 and a full settlement agreement was executed by all parties as of January 10, 2022. Based on the foregoing, the Company does not expect that the resolution of these cases will have a material adverse effect on its results of operations or consolidated financial statements, but if the settlement agreement is not approved by the respective courts, the ultimate resolution of these cases could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations or consolidated financial statements.

Other than as noted above, we are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings other than claims and lawsuits arising in the normal course of business. All such matters are subject to uncertainties, and outcomes may not be predictable. Consequently, the ultimate aggregate amounts of monetary liability or financial impact with respect to other matters as of January 29, 2022 are not estimable. However, while such matters could affect our consolidated operating results when resolved in future periods, management believes that upon final disposition, any monetary liability or financial impact to us would not be material to our annual consolidated financial statements.