Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

In the ordinary course of business, the Company is involved in litigation, claims, government inquiries, investigations and proceedings, including, but not limited to, those identified below, relating to intellectual property, commercial, employment, environmental and regulatory matters.

The Company believes that it has meritorious defenses in connection with its current lawsuits and material claims and disputes, and intends to vigorously contest each of them.

Based on the Company's experience, management believes that the damages amounts claimed in a case are not a meaningful indicator of the potential liability. Claims, suits, investigations and proceedings are inherently uncertain and it is not possible to predict the ultimate outcome of cases.

Other than as described below, in the opinion of the Company's management based upon information currently available to the Company, while the outcome of these lawsuits, claims and disputes is uncertain, the likely results of these lawsuits, claims and disputes are not expected, either individually or in the aggregate, to have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows, although the effect could be material to the Company's results of operations or cash flows for any interim reporting period.

Antitrust Litigation

In 2006, the Company instituted an action in the U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, against defendants Telecom Labs, Inc., TeamTLI.com Corp. and Continuant Technologies, Inc. (“TLI/Continuant”) and subsequently amended its complaint to include certain individual officers of these companies as defendants. Defendants purportedly provide maintenance services to customers who have purchased or leased the Company's communications equipment. The Company asserted in its amended complaint that, among other things, defendants, or each of them, engaged in tortious conduct by improperly accessing and utilizing the Company's proprietary software, including passwords, logins and maintenance service permissions, to perform certain maintenance services on the Company's customers' equipment. TLI/Continuant filed counterclaims against the Company alleging that the Company has violated the Sherman Act's prohibitions against anticompetitive conduct through the manner in which the Company sells its products and services. TLI/Continuant sought to recover the profits they claim they would have earned from maintaining Avaya's products, and asked for injunctive relief prohibiting the conduct they claim is anticompetitive.

The trial commenced on September 9, 2013. On January 8, 2014, the Court issued an opinion dismissing the Company's affirmative claims. With respect to TLI/Continuant’s counterclaims, on March 27, 2014, a jury found against the Company on two of eight claims and awarded damages of $20 million. Under the federal antitrust laws, the jury’s award is subject to automatic trebling, or $60 million.

Following the jury verdict, TLI/Continuant sought an injunction regarding the Company’s ongoing business operations. On June 30, 2014, a federal judge rejected the demands of TLI/Continuant’s proposed injunction and stated that “only a narrow injunction is appropriate.” Instead, the judge issued an order relating to customers who purchased an Avaya PBX system between January 1, 1990 and April 30, 2008 only. Those customers and their agents will have free access to the on demand maintenance commands that were installed on their systems at the time of the purchase transaction. The court specified that this right “does not extend to access on a system purchased after April 30, 2008.” Consequently, the injunction affects only systems sold prior to April 30, 2008. The judge denied all other requests TLI/Continuant made in its injunction filing. The Company is complying with the injunction.

The Company and TLI/Continuant filed post-trial motions seeking to overturn the jury’s verdict, which motions were denied. In September 2014, the Court entered judgment in the amount of $63 million, which included the jury's award of $20 million, subject to automatic trebling, or $60 million, plus prejudgment interest in the amount of $3 million. On October 10, 2014, the Company filed a Notice of Appeal, and on October 23, 2014, TLI/Continuant filed a Notice of Conditional Cross-Appeal. On October 23, 2014, the Company filed its supersedeas bond with the Court in the amount of $63 million, which includes an amount for post-judgment interest and stays execution of the judgment while the matter is on appeal. The Company secured posting of the bond through the issuance of a letter of credit under its existing credit facilities. On November 10, 2014, TLI/Continuant made an application for attorney's fees, expenses and costs, which the Company is contesting. TLI/Continuant’s current application for attorneys’ fees, expenses and costs is approximately $65 million and represents activity through September 11, 2014. Once the initial application is resolved by the Court, the Company expects that TLI/Continuant will make a supplemental application for activity beyond September 11, 2014. Once required, and in order to stay the enforcement of any award for attorney’s fees, expenses and costs, on appeal or otherwise, the Company will post a bond in the amount of the award for attorney’s fees, expenses and costs, plus interest. The Company expects to secure posting of the bond through existing resources and may use any or a combination of the issuance of one or more letters of credit under its existing credit facilities and cash on hand.

The Company continues to believe that TLI/Continuant's claims are without merit and unsupported by the facts and law, and the Company intends to defend this matter, including by filing its appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Company filed its initial appellate brief with the Third Circuit on June 12, 2015 and briefing by the parties is scheduled to continue through November 18, 2015, after which the Third Circuit will likely schedule oral argument and then issue a written opinion. No loss reserve has been provided for this matter.

In the event TLI/Continuant ultimately succeed on appeal, any potential loss could be material. At this time an outcome cannot be predicted and, as a result, the Company cannot be assured that this case will not have a material adverse effect on the manner in which it does business, its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Intellectual Property and Commercial Disputes

In the ordinary course of business, the Company is involved in litigation alleging it has infringed upon third parties’ intellectual property rights, including patents and copyrights; some litigation may involve claims for infringement against customers, distributors and resellers by third parties relating to the use of Avaya’s products, as to which the Company may provide indemnifications of varying scope to certain parties. The Company is also involved in litigation pertaining to general commercial disputes with customers, suppliers, vendors and other third parties including royalty disputes. These matters are on-going and the outcomes are subject to inherent uncertainties. As a result, the Company cannot be assured that any such matter will not have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

SNMP Research International, Inc. and SNMP Research, Inc. (collectively, “SNMP-RI”) brought a complaint, on November 2, 2011, against Avaya and Nortel Networks, Inc. (“Nortel”) (and others) in the Nortel Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding captioned In re Nortel Networks, Inc., 09-10138 (KG) (Bankr. D. Del.). In the complaint, SNMP-RI alleges that Avaya is liable to SNMP-RI for copyright and trade secret infringement with respect to Nortel products acquired by Avaya that incorporate SNMP-RI products. No trial date has been set. In a separate case pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, SNMP-RI alleged that (i) Avaya either underreported or failed to report royalties owed to SNMP-RI under a license agreement and (ii) Avaya’s use of SNMP-RI software in certain ways constitutes copyright and trade secret infringement. Trial of this matter is currently scheduled to begin May 9, 2016.

In late 2014 SNMP-RI also brought two separate complaints against several of Avaya’s resellers or distributors, alleging essentially the same facts as in the matters described above. One case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, has been stayed. Avaya is waiting for a ruling on its motion to stay the second matter pending in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware.

Avaya believes it has meritorious defenses but at this time an outcome cannot be predicted and, as a result, the Company cannot be assured that this case will not have a material adverse effect on the manner in which it does business, its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Other

In October 2009, a group of former employees of Avaya’s former Shreveport, Louisiana manufacturing facility brought suit in Louisiana state court, naming as defendants Alcatel-Lucent USA, Inc., Lucent Technologies Services Company, Inc., and AT&T Technologies, Inc. The former employees allege hearing loss due to hazardous noise exposure from the facility dating back over forty years, and stipulate that the total amount of each individual’s damages does not exceed fifty thousand dollars. In February 2010 plaintiffs amended their complaint to add the Company as a named defendant. There are 101 plaintiffs in the case. In light of the Louisiana Supreme Court’s holding in another hearing loss case (“Graphic Packaging”), in which the Court held that noise induced hearing loss qualifies as an occupational injury or disease subject to Workers’ Compensation claims, Avaya intends to file dispositive motions seeking dismissal of this matter.

At this time an outcome cannot be predicted however, because the amounts of the claims individually and in the aggregate are not material, the Company believes the outcome of this matter will not have a material adverse effect on the manner in which it does business, its financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

General

The Company records accruals for legal contingencies to the extent that it has concluded it is probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. No estimate of the possible loss or range of loss in excess of amounts accrued, if any, can be made at this time regarding the matters specifically described above because the inherently unpredictable nature of legal proceedings may be exacerbated by various factors, including: (i) the damages sought in the proceedings are unsubstantiated or indeterminate; (ii) discovery is not complete; (iii) the proceeding is in its early stages; (iv) the matters present legal uncertainties; (v) there are significant facts in dispute; (vi) there are a large number of parties (including where it is uncertain how liability, if any, will be shared among multiple defendants); or (vii) there is a wide range of potential outcomes.

Product Warranties

The Company recognizes a liability for the estimated costs that may be incurred to remedy certain deficiencies of quality or performance of the Company’s products. These product warranties extend over a specified period of time generally ranging up to two years from the date of sale depending upon the product subject to the warranty. The Company accrues a provision for estimated future warranty costs based upon the historical relationship of warranty claims to sales. The Company periodically reviews the adequacy of its product warranties and adjusts, if necessary, the warranty percentage and accrued warranty reserve, which is included in other current and non-current liabilities in the Consolidated Balance Sheets, for actual experience.



In millions
Balance as of October 1, 2014	$	13
Reductions for payments and costs to satisfy claims	(9		)
Accruals for warranties issued during the period	6
Balance as of June 30, 2015	$	10

Guarantees of Indebtedness and Other Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Letters of Credit

As of June 30, 2015, the Company had $179 million of outstanding letters of credit which ensure the Company's performance or payment to third parties. Included in this amount is $145 million of letters of credit issued under the Domestic ABL and $34 million of letters of credit issued under other uncommitted facilities.

Surety Bonds

The Company arranges for the issuance of various types of surety bonds, such as license, permit, bid and performance bonds, which are agreements under which the surety company guarantees that the Company will perform in accordance with contractual or legal obligations. These bonds vary in duration although most are issued and outstanding from three months to three years. These bonds are backed by $71 million of the Company’s letters of credit and include the $63 million supersedeas bond filed with the Court in the TLI/Continuant matter discussed above. If the Company fails to perform under its obligations, the maximum potential payment under these surety bonds is $77 million as of June 30, 2015.

Purchase Commitments and Termination Fees

The Company purchases components from a variety of suppliers and uses several contract manufacturers to provide manufacturing services for its products. During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and to help assure adequate component supply, the Company enters into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that allow them to produce and procure inventory based upon forecasted requirements provided by the Company. If the Company does not meet these specified purchase commitments, it could be required to purchase the inventory, or in the case of certain agreements, pay an early termination fee. Historically, the Company has not been required to pay a charge for not meeting its designated purchase commitments with these suppliers, but has been obligated to purchase certain excess inventory levels from its outsourced manufacturers due to actual sales of product varying from forecast and due to transition of manufacturing from one vendor to another.

The Company’s outsourcing agreements with its most significant contract manufacturers automatically renew in July and September for successive periods of twelve months each, subject to specific termination rights for the Company and the contract manufacturers. All manufacturing of the Company’s products is performed in accordance with either detailed requirements or specifications and product designs furnished by the Company, and is subject to rigorous quality control standards.

Long-Term Cash Incentive Bonus Plan

Parent has established a long-term incentive cash bonus plan (“LTIP”). Under the LTIP, Parent will make cash awards available to compensate certain key employees upon the achievement of defined returns on the Sponsors’ initial investment in the Parent (a “triggering event”). Parent has authorized LTIP awards covering a total of $60 million, of which $23 million in awards were outstanding as of June 30, 2015. The Company will begin to recognize compensation expense relative to the LTIP awards upon the occurrence of a triggering event (e.g., a sale or initial public offering). As of June 30, 2015, no compensation expense associated with the LTIP has been recognized.

Credit Facility Indemnification

In connection with its obligations under the credit facilities described in Note 8, “Financing Arrangements,” the Company has agreed to indemnify the third-party lending institutions for costs incurred by the institutions related to changes in tax law or other legal requirements. While there have been no amounts paid to the lenders pursuant to this indemnity in the past, there can be no assurance that the Company will not be obligated to indemnify the lenders under this arrangement in the future. As of June 30, 2015, no amounts have been accrued pursuant to this indemnity.

Transactions with Alcatel-Lucent

Pursuant to the Contribution and Distribution Agreement effective October 1, 2000, Lucent Technologies, Inc. (now Alcatel-Lucent) contributed to the Company substantially all of the assets, liabilities and operations associated with its enterprise networking businesses (the “Company’s Businesses”) and distributed the Company’s stock pro-rata to the shareholders of Lucent (“distribution”). The Contribution and Distribution Agreement, among other things, provides that, in general, the Company will indemnify Alcatel-Lucent for all liabilities including certain pre-distribution tax obligations of Alcatel-Lucent relating to the Company’s Businesses and all contingent liabilities primarily relating to the Company’s Businesses or otherwise assigned to the Company. In addition, the Contribution and Distribution Agreement provides that certain contingent liabilities not allocated to one of the parties will be shared by Alcatel-Lucent and the Company in prescribed percentages. The Contribution and Distribution Agreement also provides that each party will share specified portions of contingent liabilities based upon agreed percentages related to the business of the other party that exceed $50 million. The Company is unable to determine the maximum potential amount of other future payments, if any, that it could be required to make under this agreement.

The Tax Sharing Agreement governs Alcatel-Lucent’s and the Company’s respective rights, responsibilities and obligations after the distribution with respect to taxes for the periods ending on or before the distribution. Generally, pre-distribution taxes or benefits that are clearly attributable to the business of one party will be borne solely by that party, and other pre-distribution taxes or benefits will be shared by the parties based on a formula set forth in the Tax Sharing Agreement. The Company may be subject to additional taxes or benefits pursuant to the Tax Sharing Agreement related to future settlements of audits by state and local and foreign taxing authorities for the periods prior to the Company’s separation from Alcatel-Lucent.