Note 10 Commitment and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Contingencies

From time to time, the Company is a party to litigation, claims and other contingencies, including environmental, regulatory and employee matters and examinations and investigations by governmental agencies, which arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company records a contingent liability when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable in accordance with ASC Topic 450, Contingencies, or other applicable accounting standards. As of September 30, 2023 and October 1, 2022, the Company had reserves of $34 million and $38 million, respectively, for environmental matters, warranty, litigation and other contingencies (excluding reserves for uncertain tax positions), which the Company believes are adequate. However, there can be no assurance that the Company’s reserves will be sufficient to settle these contingencies. Such reserves are included in accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.

Legal Proceedings

Environmental Matters

The Company is subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations and administrative orders concerning environmental protection, including those addressing the discharge of pollutants into the environment, the management and disposal of hazardous substances, the cleanup of contaminated sites, the materials used in products, and the recycling, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. As of September 30, 2023, the Company had been named in a lawsuit and several administrative orders alleging certain of its current and former sites contributed to groundwater contamination. One such order demands that the Company and other alleged defendants fund continued post-closure care and remediation at four properly-permitted former hazardous waste landfills located in Northern California to which the Company may have sent wastewater in the past. The Company is participating in a working group of a number of other alleged defendants in a settlement of this matter and has reserved its estimated exposure for this matter as of September 30, 2023, which amount is immaterial.

In June 2008, the Company was named by the Orange County Water District in a suit alleging that a predecessor company’s actions at a plant the Company sold in 1998 contributed to polluted groundwater managed by the plaintiff. The complaint seeks recovery of compensatory and other damages, as well as declaratory relief, for the payment of costs necessary to investigate, monitor, remediate, abate and contain contamination of groundwater. In April 2013, all claims against the Company were dismissed. The plaintiff appealed this dismissal and the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment in August 2017, remanding the case back to the Superior Court of California for trial. The trial against the Company and several other defendants commenced in April 2021 and the submission of evidence concluded in May 2022. On April 3, 2023, the Superior Court published a statement of decision finding the Company and other remaining defendants liable for certain past investigation costs incurred by the plaintiff. The Company believes a loss in this matter is probable and has recorded its estimated loss as of September 30, 2023. There will be subsequent proceedings to assess the Company’s and other defendants’ liability for the plaintiff’s future remediation and other costs, including attorneys’ fees. It is probable that the Company will record additional losses in connection with this matter, and it is reasonably possible that the amount of such additional losses will be material. However, the Company is unable to estimate the amount of such additional losses or a range of losses. The Company intends to continue defending the case vigorously and to seek appellate review at the appropriate time.

Other Matters

In December 2019, the Company sued a former customer, Dialight plc (“Dialight”), in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to collect approximately $10 million in unpaid accounts receivable and net obsolete inventory obligations. Later the same day, Dialight commenced its own action in the same court. Dialight’s complaint, which asserts claims for fraudulent inducement, breach of contract and willful misconduct, alleges that the Company fraudulently misrepresented its capabilities to induce Dialight to enter into a Manufacturing Services Agreement (the “Dialight MSA”), and then breached its obligations contained in the Dialight MSA relating to quality, on-time delivery and supply chain management. Dialight seeks compensatory and punitive damages that it contends exceed $200 million, but the Company believes Dialight’s claimed damages are vastly overstated and are subject to a contractual limitation of liability that limits any Dialight recovery to less than $2 million. In an Opinion and Order dated March 14, 2023, the District Court granted in part the Company’s motion for partial summary judgment and dismissed Dialight’s willful misconduct claim. The Company continues to vigorously prosecute its claims against Dialight. Further, the Company strongly disagrees with Dialight’s allegations and is defending against Dialight’s remaining claims vigorously. No trial date has been set in this matter.

In May 2023, the Company and its SCI subsidiary received Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) from the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ") pursuant to the civil False Claims Act (“FCA”). The stated purpose of the CIDs—a form of subpoena requiring responses to written interrogatories and the production of documents relating to certain contracts, projects, proposals and business activities of SCI going back to 2010—is to determine whether there is or has been a violation of the FCA with respect to the provision of products and services to the government. These CIDs supplement several CIDs relating to the same subject matter served upon SCI and certain current and former SCI and Sanmina employees beginning in August 2020, pursuant to which SCI has been producing documents and information and the current and former employees have provided or will provide oral testimony. To date, neither the Company nor SCI has been served with a complaint in this matter. The Company has been, and is, cooperating with the DOJ and continues to produce documents and other information responsive to the CIDs. The Company is unable to predict the ultimate outcome in this matter, although a loss currently is not considered to be probable or estimable.

On November 14, 2023, Gerardo Ramirez, an employee at the Company’s Newark, California plant, filed two lawsuits against the Company in the Alameda County Superior Court. The first, a putative class action, alleges violations of various California Labor Code and Wage Order requirements, including provisions governing overtime, meal and rest periods, minimum wage requirements, payment of wages during employment and final wages, wage statements, payroll records, and reimbursement of business expenses. The class action complaint seeks certification of a class of all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for the Company within the State of California at any time between November 14, 2019 and final judgment, as well as unspecified damages, penalties, restitution, attorneys’ fees, pre-judgment interest, and costs of suit. The second action, a complaint under California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (“PAGA”) (Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq.), alleges substantially similar violations and seeks penalties individually and on behalf of the State of California and other “aggrieved employees,” along with attorneys’ fees and costs. The Company intends to defend these cases vigorously.

For each of the pending matters noted above, the Company is unable to reasonably estimate a range of possible loss at this time.

In addition, from time to time, the Company may become involved in routine legal proceedings, demands, claims, threatened litigation and regulatory inquiries and investigations that arise in the normal course of our business. The Company records liabilities for such matters when a loss becomes probable and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. The ultimate outcome of any litigation is uncertain and unfavorable outcomes could have a negative impact on the Company’s results of operations and financial condition.