Legal Proceedings

3 Months Ended

Oct. 04, 2019

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Legal Proceedings

Legal Proceedings

Unless otherwise stated below, for each of the matters described below, the Company has either recorded an accrual for losses that are probable and reasonably estimable or has determined that, while a loss is reasonably possible (including potential losses in excess of the amounts accrued by the Company), a reasonable estimate of the amount of loss or range of possible losses with respect to the claim or in excess of amounts already accrued by the Company cannot be made. The ability to predict the ultimate outcome of such matters involves judgments, estimates and inherent uncertainties. The actual outcome of such matters could differ materially from management’s estimates.

Intellectual Property Litigation

In May 2016, Lambeth Magnetic Structures, LLC (“Lambeth”) filed a complaint with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against the Company and certain of its subsidiaries alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 7,128,988. The complaint seeks unspecified monetary damages and injunctive relief. The ’988 patent, entitled “Magnetic Material Structures, Devices and Methods,” allegedly relates to a magnetic material structure for hard disk drive devices. Mediation in this matter was held on August 16, 2019, and the parties reached an agreement in principle to settle the case for an immaterial amount, a portion of which was previously accrued in the Company’s financial statements. The parties formalized the settlement and filed a joint stipulation of dismissal with prejudice in October 2019. The matter is now closed.

Securities

Beginning in March 2015, SanDisk Corporation (“SanDisk”), which was acquired by the Company in May 2016, and two of SanDisk’s former officers, Sanjay Mehrotra and Judy Bruner, were named in three putative class action lawsuits filed with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Two complaints are brought on behalf of a purported class of purchasers of SanDisk’s securities between October 2014 and March 2015, and one is brought on behalf of a purported class of purchasers of SanDisk’s securities between April 2014 and April 2015. The complaints generally allege violations of federal securities laws arising out of alleged misstatements or omissions by the defendants during the alleged class periods. The complaints seek, among other things, damages and fees and costs. In July 2015, the District Court consolidated the cases and appointed Union Asset Management Holding AG and KBC Asset Management NV as lead plaintiffs. The lead plaintiffs filed an amended complaint in August 2015. In January 2016, the District Court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss and dismissed the amended complaint with leave to amend. In February 2016, the District Court issued an order appointing as new lead plaintiffs Bristol Pension Fund; City of Milford, Connecticut Pension & Retirement Board; Pavers and Road Builders Pension, Annuity and Welfare Funds; the Newport News Employees’ Retirement Fund; and Massachusetts Laborers’ Pension Fund (collectively, the “Institutional Investor Group”). In March 2016, the Institutional Investor Group filed an amended complaint. In June 2016, the District Court granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss and dismissed the amended complaint with leave to amend. In July 2016, the Institutional Investor Group filed a further amended complaint. In June 2017, the District Court denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss. In September 2018, the District Court granted the Institutional Investor Group’s motion to certify a class of all persons and entities who purchased or otherwise acquired SanDisk’s publicly traded common stock between October 2014 and April 2015, excluding those who purchased or otherwise acquired SanDisk’s publicly traded common stock during the class period but who sold their stock prior to the first corrective disclosure in March 2015. The Institutional Investor Group alleged artificial inflation in the price of SanDisk’s publicly traded common stock of $9.04 per share from October 16, 2014 through March 25, 2015, $2.26 per share on March 26, 2015, and $1.35 per share from March 27, 2015 through April 15, 2015. In March 2019, the parties reached a settlement of all claims in this matter. In May 2019, the court granted the motion for preliminary approval, and in October 2019, the court issued its final order and judgment approving the settlement.

Tax

For disclosures regarding statutory notices of deficiency issued by the IRS on June 28, 2018 and December 10, 2018, and petitions filed by the Company with the U.S. Tax Court in September 2018 and March 2019, see Note 12, Income Tax Expense.

Other Matters

In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to other legal proceedings, lawsuits and other claims. Although the ultimate aggregate amount of probable monetary liability or financial impact with respect to these other matters is subject to many uncertainties, management believes that any monetary liability or financial impact to the Company from these other matters, individually and in the aggregate, would not be material to the Company’s financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. However, any monetary liability and financial impact to the Company from these other matters could differ materially from the Company’s expectations.