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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2019
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES


Litigation, Claims and Assessments

As previously reported and described in the Company's prior periodic reports, including most recently in our Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019, former civil immigration detainees at the Aurora Immigration Processing Center filed a class action lawsuit on October 22, 2014, against the Company in the United States District Court for the District of Colorado (the “Court”). The complaint alleges that the Company was in violation of the Colorado Minimum Wages of Workers Act and the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act ("TVPA"). The plaintiff class claims that the Company was unjustly enriched because of the level of payment the detainees received for work performed at the facility, even though the voluntary work program as well as the wage rates and standards associated with the program that are at issue in the case are authorized by the Federal government under guidelines approved by the United States Congress. On July 6, 2015, the Court found that detainees were not employees under the Colorado Minimum Wage Order and dismissed this claim. In February 2017, the Court granted the plaintiff-class’ motion for class certification on the TVPA and unjust enrichment claims. The plaintiff class seeks actual damages, compensatory damages, exemplary damages, punitive damages, restitution, attorneys’ fees and costs, and such other relief as the Court may deem proper. In the time since the Colorado suit was initially filed, three similar lawsuits have been filed - two in Washington and one in California. In Washington, one of the two lawsuits was filed on September 9, 2017 by immigration detainees against the Company in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. The second lawsuit was filed on September 20, 2017 by the State Attorney General against the Company in the Superior Court of the State of Washington for Pierce County, which the Company removed to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington on October 9, 2017. In California, a class-action lawsuit was filed on December 19, 2017 by immigration detainees against the Company in the U.S. District Court Eastern Division of the Central District of California. All three lawsuits allege violations of the respective state’s minimum wage laws. However, the California lawsuit, like the Colorado suit, also includes claims that the Company violated the TVPA and California's equivalent state statute. On September 27, 2019, the California plaintiff class filed a motion for class certification of both California-based and nationwide classes. The Company filed a response to this motion disputing the plaintiff class' right to broad class treatment of the claims at issue. On July 2, 2019, the Company filed a Motion for Summary Judgment in the Washington Attorney General’s Tacoma lawsuit based on the Company’s position that its legal defenses prevent the case from proceeding to trial. The federal court in Washington denied the Company's Motion for Summary Judgment on August 6, 2019. However, on August 20, 2019, the Department of Justice filed a Statement of Interest, which asked the Washington court to revisit its prior denial of the Company's intergovernmental immunity defense in the case. While the Washington court ultimately elected not to dismiss the case at the time, its order importantly declared that the Company's intergovernmental immunity defense was legally viable, to be ultimately determined at trial. The two Washington cases are currently set for trial in March 2020. The Company intends to take all necessary steps to vigorously defend itself and has consistently refuted the allegations and claims in these lawsuits. The Company has not recorded an accrual relating to these matters at this time, as a loss is not considered probable nor reasonably estimable at this stage of the lawsuits. The Company establishes accruals for specific legal proceedings when it is considered probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. However, the results of these claims or proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these claims or proceedings could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Our accruals for loss contingencies are reviewed quarterly and adjusted as additional information becomes available. We do not accrue for anticipated legal fees and costs, but expense those items as incurred.
The nature of the Company's business exposes it to various types of third-party legal claims or litigation against the Company, including, but not limited to, civil rights claims relating to conditions of confinement and/or mistreatment, sexual misconduct claims, medical malpractice claims, claims relating to the TVPA, product liability claims, intellectual property infringement claims, claims relating to employment laws (including, but not limited to, employment discrimination claims, union grievances and wage and hour claims), property loss claims, environmental claims, automobile liability claims, indemnification claims by its customers and other third parties, contractual claims and claims for personal injury or other damages resulting from contact with the Company's facilities, programs, electronic monitoring products, personnel, inmates or detainees, including damages arising from an escape or from a disturbance or riot at a facility. Expenses associated with legal proceedings may fluctuate from quarter to quarter based on the level of activity required during the different stages of legal proceedings, new developments that arise in the course of the legal proceedings, and the Company's litigation strategy. The Company does not expect the outcome of any pending claims or legal proceedings to have a material adverse effect on its financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, the results of these claims or proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and an unfavorable resolution of one or more of these claims or proceedings could have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
 

Other Assessment

A state non-income tax audit completed in 2016 included tax periods for which the state tax authority had previously processed a substantial tax refund. At the completion of the audit fieldwork, the Company received a notice of audit findings disallowing deductions that were previously claimed by the Company, approved by the state tax authority and served as the basis for the approved refund claim. In early January 2017, the Company received a formal Notice of Assessment of Taxes and Demand for Payment from the taxing authority disallowing the deductions. The total tax, penalty and interest related to the assessment is approximately $18.8 million. The Company has filed an administrative protest and disagrees with the assessment and intends to take all necessary steps to vigorously defend its position.  The Company has established a reserve based on its estimate of the most probable loss based on the facts and circumstances known to date and the advice of outside counsel in connection with this matter.
Commitments
The Company currently has contractual commitments for a number of projects using Company financing. The Company’s management estimates that the cost of these existing capital projects will be approximately $193 million of which $143 million was spent through the first nine months of 2019. The Company estimates the remaining capital requirements related to these capital projects will be $50 million which will be spent through the remainder of 2019.
Idle Facilities
As of September 30, 2019, the Company was marketing approximately 3,000 vacant beds at four of its idle facilities to potential customers. The carrying values of these idle facilities, which are included in Property and Equipment, Net in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets, totaled $49.6 million as of September 30, 2019, excluding equipment and other assets that can be easily transferred for use at other facilities. There was no indication of impairment related to the Company's idle facilities at September 30, 2019.