NOTE 16 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 29, 2012

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

NOTE 16 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Employment Agreements

The Company has employment agreements with certain of its executive officers and certain other officers, the terms of which expire on or before May 2013, with the severance terms ranging from six to twelve months. Such agreements provide for minimum salary levels. If employment is terminated for any reason other than 1) termination for cause, 2) voluntary resignation or 3) the employee's death, the Company is obligated to provide a severance benefit equal to six months of the employee's salary, and, at its option, an additional six months at 50% of the employee's salary in exchange for an extension of a non-competition agreement. Some of these agreements are renewable for an additional one-year term at the Company's option. No liability is recorded for the Company's obligations under employment agreements as the amounts that will ultimately be paid cannot be reasonably estimated, if any.

Litigation

From time to time, ENGlobal or one or more of its subsidiaries is involved in various legal proceedings or is subject to claims that arise in the ordinary course of business alleging, among other things, claims of breach of contract or negligence in connection with the performance or delivery of goods and/or services. The outcome of any such claims or proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty.

In June 2008, ENGlobal filed an action in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana; Case Number 08-3601, against South Louisiana Ethanol LLC (“SLE”) entitled ENGlobal Engineering, Inc. and ENGlobal Construction Resources, Inc. vs. South Louisiana Ethanol, LLC. The lawsuit seeks to enforce collection of $15.8 million owed to ENGlobal and its affiliates for services performed on an ethanol plant in Louisiana. In August 2009, SLE filed for Chapter 11 protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Case Number 09-12676. Pursuant to the bankruptcy, the plant assets were sold for $6,802,000. On December 6, 2011, the court issued an order allocating proceeds from the sale and authorizing their distribution.  Of the total amount, $1,054,418 was allocated to ENGlobal.  Of that amount, $845,529 is still being held by the court pending the outcome of continuing litigation regarding the claims of one subcontractor.  As of the date of this Report, the amount is still being held by the court.

In June 2010, SemCrude, LP, SemCrude Pipeline, LLC and White Cliffs Pipeline, LLC (collectively “SemCrude”) filed an action in the United States District Court for Tulsa County, Oklahoma against ENGlobal Construction Resources, Inc. d.b.a. ENGlobal Inspection Services, ENGlobal Engineering, Inc., and Western X-Ray Service, Inc..  SemCrude alleges that ENGlobal Inspection failed to properly inspect and verify that the nondestructive testing of girth welds on portions of the pipeline system was completed in accordance with state and federal regulations and contract specifications.  SemCrude further alleges that ENGlobal Engineering failed to properly manage the work of ENGlobal Inspection to ensure that the work was properly performed, causing SemCrude to incur in excess of $2,500,000 in damages.  ENGlobal maintains several defenses associated with its scope of work and the fact that it was not contractually responsible for the work of third parties working on the project, such as Western X-Ray and SemCrude. The case is still in discovery.  We are still gathering facts on our exposure, discussing coverage with our carriers and have accrued a $600,000 liability associated with the settlement of this claim.  Because this liability was incurred in the Field Solutions segment, it is included in Liabilities held for sale on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets and Income (Loss) from Discontinued Operations on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.

Insurance

The Company carries a broad range of insurance coverage, including general and business automobile liability, commercial property, professional errors and omissions, workers' compensation insurance, directors' and officers' liability insurance and a general umbrella policy. The Company is not aware of any claims in excess of insurance recoveries. ENGlobal is partially self-funded for health insurance claims. Provisions for expected future payments are accrued based on the Company's experience. Specific stop loss levels provide protection for the Company with $200,000 per occurrence. The self-insurance liability, which is included in the Accrued Compensation and Benefits line of the balance sheet, was $1.1 million as of December 29, 2012 and December 31, 2011, respectively.