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NOTE 13 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
12 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
NOTE 13 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

NOTE 13 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Leases

 

The Company rents its operating facilities and certain equipment, pursuant to operating lease agreements expiring at various dates through December 2022. The leases for certain facilities contain escalation clauses relating to increases in real property taxes as well as certain maintenance costs.

 

Future minimum operating lease commitments consisted of the following at June 30, 2014:

 

Year Ending
June 30,
  Facilities And Equipment (Operating Lease)
 2015   $3,753,050 
 2016    3,042,814 
 2017    1,295,636 
 2018    835,680 
 2019    351,732 
 Thereafter    894,072 
 Total minimum obligations   $10,172,984 

 

Rent expense for operating leases approximated $4,571,000 and $4,035,000, for the years ended June 30, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The expense for the year ended June 30, 2013 included an expense for early termination of a lease of approximately $690,000.

 

Employee Benefit Plans

 

The Company has a non-contributory 401(k) Plan (the “401(k) Plan”). The 401(k) Plan covers all non-union employees who are at least 21 years of age with no minimum service requirements. There were no employer contributions to the Plan for the years ended June 30, 2014 and 2013. (See Other Matters below)

 

The stockholders of the Company approved the 2000 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) at the Company’s annual stockholders’ meeting in April 2000. The ESPP provides for eligible employees to acquire common stock of the Company at a discount, not to exceed 15%. This plan has not been put into effect as of June 30, 2014.

 

Stipulation Agreements

 

The Company has entered into stipulation agreements with a number of its creditors that in the aggregate total $305,916, which is included in other current liabilities and other liabilities on the Company’s balance sheet as of June 30, 2014. The monthly payments total $19,552.

 

The amounts to be paid over the next three years are as follows:

 

Year Ending June 30,   
 2015   $152,166 
 2016    96,000 
 2017    57,750 
     $305,916 

 

Litigation

 

The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the ordinary course of its business, including personal injury, customer contract and employment claims. In the opinion of management, the aggregate liability, if any, with respect to such actions, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position or results of operations of the Company.

 

On or about June 30, 2010, one of Fonar’s customers, Golden Triangle Company, commenced an action against Fonar and certain individual defendants employed or formerly employed by Fonar, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York based on the alleged wrongful failure of Fonar to deliver a scanner in Kuwait. The claim alleged various causes of action including breach of contract, fraud, conspiracy to defraud and conversion.

 

Golden Triangle Company v. Fonar Corporation et al, CV10-2933. The Plaintiff contracted with Fonar to purchase a scanner, and paid $1,455,500 in advance. The scanner was never delivered, but Plaintiff never designed a site for delivery either. Alleging other damages, fraud and deceptive trade practices, Plaintiff sought up to $5,000,000. Fonar made a motion to dismiss the complaint, the outcome of which left Plaintiff with only a cause of action for breach of contract. The claims against the individual officers and employees of Fonar were dismissed. Fonar filed its answer, together with a counterclaim alleging that the Plaintiff, by attempting to overcharge the end-customer, had damaged Fonar’s reputation and ability to sell in Kuwait. The case was settled in June 2013 for $480,000 in cash and 30,000 shares of Fonar’s common stock payable in installments. The Company recorded a gain of $755,500 on the statements of income for the year ended June 30, 2013.

 

Jack Shapiro v. Fonar Corporation, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Nassau County, was commenced by plaintiff in July, 2009 to recover $500,000 based on Fonar’s failure to refund a deposit on an MRI scanner and termination of plaintiff’s sales representative agreement. Plaintiff alleged that the deposit on the machine was in part consideration for the sales representative agreement. Fonar’s view was that the sales agreement and sales representative agreement were separate and (1) Fonar was entitled to keep the deposit on the sale when plaintiff failed to proceed with the transaction and (2) properly terminated the sales representative agreement in accordance with its terms. During the year ended June 30, 2013, the case has been settled for $323,000 payable in installments, subject to the plaintiff obtaining a sale for Fonar and the payment of installments of the purchase price by the customer.

 

Matt Malek Madison v. Fonar Corporation, United States District Court, Northern District of California, was commenced by plaintiff on August 27, 2007 to recover a down payment for a scanner in the amount of $300,000, with interest. The plaintiff sought costs of suit and attorney’s fees as well. Fonar answered the complaint and sued the plaintiff for breach of contract in the amount of $450,000. Although down payments are usually expressly non-refundable in Fonar’s quotations and agreements, in this case, the quotation contemplated the sale of four scanners, and provided that the deposit would be refundable with interest, if the customer were unable to find suitable locations in the San Francisco Bay area. The issue was whether the customer made a good faith effort to find locations; Fonar’s position was that the customer did not. The case went to trial before a judge; the parties submitted post-trial briefs, and judgment was awarded to the plaintiff. Fonar appealed the trial court’s decision, but on January 31, 2012, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit affirmed the lower court’s decision awarding the plaintiff the $300,000 deposit with prejudgment interest from July 1, 2006. Fonar sought to have the Court of Appeals reconsider the decision en banc, (by all or a larger number of the judges on the Circuit Court of Appeals), but this was not granted. Although the case has been concluded, the plaintiff has not taken any steps to collect the judgment. As of June 30, 2014 and 2013, $300,000 was included in the Company’s accrued expenses.

 

Bonutti Research v. Fonar Corporation, Health Management Corporation of America, Health Diagnostics, LLC et al, was commenced on December 2, 2011.  Bonutti Research filed a patent infringement action in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District Court of New York, alleging that Fonar’s Upright® MRI scanners infringe plaintiff’s patent which relates to the moving of a patient into the scanner.  Fonar believes plaintiff’s claims are without merit and further, that the patent is invalid.  The parties have settled the case for $150,000 payable by Fonar in twelve installments and certain licenses and covenants not to sue. The $150,000 has been recorded in the Company’s consolidated statements of income for the year ended June 30, 2014.

 

Bolt MRI Technologies v. Fonar Corporation, Health Management Corporation of America & Health Diagnostics, LLC, was commenced on July 22, 2013, when Bolt MRI Technologies filed an action against Fonar Corporation, Health Management Corporation of America and Health Diagnostics, LLC alleging infringement of the same patent which is the subject of the Bonutti case.  Bolt alleged that the patent was assigned to Bolt. The settlement of the Bonutti case covers this case as well.

 

Other Matters

 

The Company is also delinquent in filing sales tax returns for certain states, for which the Company has transacted business. The Company has recorded tax obligations of $2,665,000 plus interest and penalties of approximately $2,374,000. The Company is in the process of determining its regulatory requirements in order to become compliant.

 

On August 31, 2011 the Company submitted an application to the Internal Revenue Service to voluntarily correct required reporting and disclosure requirements regarding its 401(k) Employee Benefit Plan.  On December 9, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service issued a favorable determination letter on the tax-qualified status of the 401K plan document and a favorable compliance statement.  During December 2013, the Company submitted an application to the U.S. Department of Labor to voluntarily correct the late filing of prior Form 5500s (annual returns).  The voluntary correction application is still pending. The Company, however, does not anticipate any additional penalties will be assessed by the U.S. Department of Labor.  The Company has recorded provisions for any potential penalties totaling $250,000, which was the Company’s best estimate of its possible exposure for penalties at that time. The Company has engaged outside counsel to assist with the correction process and to obtain compliance with all reporting and disclosure requirements. The Company’s actions to obtain compliance have concluded successfully and the $250,000 reserve has been reversed.

 

The Company maintains a self-funded health insurance program with a stop-loss umbrella policy with a third party insurer to limit the maximum potential liability for individual claims to $100,000 per person and for a maximum potential claim liability based on member enrollment. With respect to this program, the Company considers historical and projected medical utilization data when estimating its health insurance program liability and related expense. As of June 30, 2014 and 2013, the Company had approximately $344,000 and $0, respectively, in reserve for its self-funded health insurance programs. The reserves are included in “Other current liabilities” in the consolidated balance sheets.

 

The Company regularly analyzes its reserves for incurred but not reported claims, and for reported but not paid claims related to its reinsurance and self-funded insurance programs. The Company believes its reserves are adequate. However, significant judgment is involved in assessing these reserves such as assessing historical paid claims, average lags between the claims’ incurred date, reported dates and paid dates, and the frequency and severity of claims. There may be differences between actual settlement amounts and recorded reserves and any resulting adjustments are included in expense once a probable amount is known. There were no significant adjustments recorded in the periods covered by this report.