Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Oct. 31, 2015

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

14.	Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, the Company is a named defendant in legal actions arising out of the normal course of business. The Company is not a party to any pending legal proceeding, the resolution of which the management believes will have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations, financial condition or cash flows, or to any other pending legal proceedings other than ordinary, routine litigation incidental to its business. The Company maintains liability insurance against risks arising out of the normal course of business.

On February 4, 2011, the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation of Brazil (the “Institute”) issued a Notice of Infraction to ecology and environment do brasil Ltda (“E&E Brasil”), a majority-owned subsidiary of EEI. The Notice of Infraction concerns the taking and collecting species of wild animal specimens without authorization by the competent authority and imposes a fine of 520,000 Reais, which had a value of approximately $0.2 million at October 31, 2015 and July 31, 2015. No claim has been made against EEI. The Institute has also filed Notices of Infraction against four employees of E&E Brasil alleging the same claims and has imposed fines against those individuals that, in the aggregate, are equal to the fine imposed against E&E Brasil. E&E Brasil has filed administrative responses with the Institute for itself and its employees that: (a) deny the jurisdiction of the Institute; (b) state that the Notice of Infraction is constitutionally vague; and (c) affirmatively state that E&E Brasil had obtained the necessary permits for the surveys and collections of specimens under applicable Brazilian regulations and that the protected conservation area is not clearly marked to show its boundaries. To date, E&E Brasil has attended one meeting where depositions were taken; the claim of violations against one of the four employees was dismissed; two of the four employees have fines assessed against them, which are being appealed; and the remaining one employee and E&E Brasil are awaiting agency determinations. If fines are assessed against the remaining one employee and/or E&E Brasil, appeals will be filed. Management believes that these administrative proceedings will not have a material adverse impact on the operations of the Company.

Contract Termination Provisions

Certain contracts contain termination provisions under which the customer may, without penalty, terminate the contracts upon written notice to the Company. In the event of termination, the Company would be paid only termination costs in accordance with the particular contract. Termination costs generally include unpaid costs incurred to date, earned fees and any additional costs directly allocable to the termination. The Company did not experience early termination of any material contracts during the three months ended October 31, 2015 or November 1, 2014.