10. Contingencies

Asbestos

OI Inc. is a defendant in numerous lawsuits alleging bodily injury and death as a result of exposure to asbestos. From 1948 to 1958, one of OI Inc.’s former business units commercially produced and sold approximately $40 million of a high-temperature, calcium-silicate based pipe and block insulation material containing asbestos. OI Inc. sold its insulation business unit at the end of April 1958. The typical asbestos personal injury lawsuit alleges various theories of liability, including negligence, gross negligence and strict liability and seeks compensatory and, in some cases, punitive damages in various amounts (herein referred to as "asbestos claims").

As of March 31, 2018, OI Inc. has determined that it is a named defendant in asbestos lawsuits and claims involving approximately 1,270 plaintiffs and claimants. Based on an analysis of the lawsuits pending as of December 31, 2017, approximately 89% of plaintiffs either do not specify the monetary damages sought, or in the case of court filings, claim an amount sufficient to invoke the jurisdictional minimum of the trial court. Approximately 8% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages above the jurisdictional minimum up to, and including, $15 million or less, and 3% of plaintiffs specifically plead damages greater than $15 million but less than or equal to $100 million.

As indicated by the foregoing summary, current pleading practice permits considerable variation in the assertion of monetary damages. OI Inc.’s experience resolving hundreds of thousands of asbestos claims and lawsuits over an extended period demonstrates that the monetary relief alleged in a complaint bears little relevance to a claim’s merits or disposition value. Rather, the amount potentially recoverable is determined by such factors as the type and severity of the plaintiff’s asbestos disease, the plaintiff’s medical history and exposure to other disease-causing agents, the product identification evidence against OI Inc. and other co-defendants, the defenses available to OI Inc. and other co-defendants, the specific jurisdiction in which the claim is made, and the plaintiff’s firm representing the claimant.

In addition to the pending claims set forth above, OI Inc. has claims-handling agreements in place with many plaintiffs’ counsel throughout the country. These agreements require evaluation and negotiation regarding whether particular claimants qualify under the criteria established by such agreements. The criteria for such claims include verification of a compensable illness and a reasonable probability of exposure to a product manufactured by OI Inc.'s former business unit during its manufacturing period ending in 1958.

OI Inc. has also been a defendant in other asbestos-related lawsuits or claims involving maritime workers, medical monitoring claimants, co-defendants and property damage claimants. Based upon its past experience, OI Inc. believes that these categories of lawsuits and claims will not involve any material liability and they are not included in the above description of pending matters or in the following description of disposed matters.

Since receiving its first asbestos claim, OI Inc. as of March 31, 2018, has disposed of asbestos claims of approximately 399,000 plaintiffs and claimants at an average indemnity payment per claim of approximately $9,600. OI Inc.’s asbestos indemnity payments have varied on a per claim basis, and are expected to continue to vary considerably over time. Asbestos-related cash payments for 2017, 2016 and 2015 were $110 million, $125 million and $138 million, respectively. OI Inc.’s cash payments per claim disposed (inclusive of legal costs) were approximately $83,000, $71,000, and $95,000 for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

As discussed above, OI Inc.’s objective is to achieve, where possible, resolution of asbestos claims pursuant to claims-handling agreements. Failure of claimants to meet certain medical and product exposure criteria in OI Inc.’s administrative claims handling agreements has generally reduced the number of claims that would otherwise have been received by OI Inc. in the tort system. In addition, certain court orders and legislative acts have reduced or eliminated the number of claims that OI Inc. otherwise would have received by OI Inc. in the tort system. These developments generally have had the effect of increasing OI Inc.’s per-claim average indemnity payment over time.

Beginning with the initial liability of $975 million established in 1993, OI Inc. has accrued a total of approximately $4.9 billion through March 31, 2018, before insurance recoveries, for its asbestos-related liability. OI Inc.’s estimates of its liability have been significantly affected by, among other factors, the volatility of asbestos-related litigation in the United States, the significant number of co-defendants that have filed for bankruptcy, the inherent uncertainty of future disease incidence and claiming patterns against OI Inc., the significant expansion of the defendants that are now sued in this litigation, and the continuing changes in the extent to which these defendants participate in the resolution of cases in which OI Inc. is also a defendant.

OI Inc. continues to monitor trends that may affect its ultimate liability and analyze the developments and variables likely to affect the resolution of pending and future asbestos claims against OI Inc. The material components of OI Inc.’s total accrued liability are determined by OI Inc. in connection with its annual comprehensive legal review and consist of the following estimates, to the extent it is probable that such liabilities have been incurred and can be reasonably estimated: (i) the liability for asbestos claims already asserted against OI Inc.; (ii) the liability for asbestos claims not yet asserted against OI Inc.; and (iii) the legal defense costs estimated to be incurred in connection with the claims already asserted and those claims OI Inc. believes will be asserted.

As noted above, OI Inc. conducts a comprehensive legal review of its asbestos-related liabilities and costs annually in connection with finalizing and reporting its annual results of operations, unless significant changes in trends or new developments warrant an earlier review. As part of its annual comprehensive legal review, OI Inc. provides historical claims filing data to a third party with expertise in determining the impact of disease incidence and mortality on future filing trends to develop information to assist OI Inc. in estimating the total number of future claims to be filed. OI Inc. uses this estimate of total future claims, along with an estimation of disposition costs and related legal costs as inputs to develop its best estimate of its total probable liability. If the results of the annual comprehensive legal review indicate that the existing amount of the accrued liability is lower (higher) than its reasonably estimable asbestos-related costs, then OI Inc. will record an appropriate charge (credit) to OI Inc.’s results of operations to increase (decrease) the accrued liability.

The significant assumptions underlying the material components of the OI Inc.’s accrual are:

settlements will continue to be limited almost exclusively to claimants who were exposed to OI Inc.’s asbestos‑containing insulation prior to its exit from that business in 1958;

claims will continue to be resolved primarily under OI Inc.’s administrative claims agreements or on terms comparable to those set forth in those agreements;

the incidence of serious asbestos‑related disease cases and claiming patterns against OI Inc. for such cases do not change materially;

OI Inc. is substantially able to defend itself successfully at trial and on appeal;

the number and timing of additional co‑defendant bankruptcies do not change significantly the assets available to participate in the resolution of cases in which OI Inc. is a defendant; and

co-defendants with substantial resources and assets continue to participate significantly in the resolution of future asbestos lawsuits and claims.

For the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, OI Inc. concluded that accruals in the amounts of $582 million and $692 million, respectively, were required. These amounts have not been discounted for the time value of money. OI Inc.’s comprehensive legal reviews resulted in charges of $0 million, $0 million and $16 million for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

OI Inc. believes it is reasonably possible that it will incur a loss for its asbestos-related liabilities in excess of the amount currently recognized, which was $582 million as of December 31, 2017. OI Inc. estimated that reasonably possible losses could result in asbestos-related liabilities up to $725 million. This estimate of additional reasonably possible loss reflects a qualitative legal judgment regarding the nature of contingencies that could impact future claims and legal costs, which include, but are not limited to, successful attempts by plaintiffs to challenge existing legal barriers to liability, enact plaintiff-oriented liability or damage-related legislation, establish new theories of liability, or revive long-dormant inventories of non-mesothelioma cases. However, it is also possible that the ultimate amount of asbestos-related liabilities could be above this estimate.

OI Inc. expects a significant majority of the total number of claims to be received in the next ten years. This timeframe appropriately reflects the mortality of current and expected claimants in light of OI Inc.’s sale of its insulation business unit in 1958.

As noted above, OI Inc.’s asbestos-related liability is based on a projection of new claims that will eventually be filed against OI Inc. and the estimated average disposition cost of these claims and related legal costs. Changes in these projections, and estimates, as well as changes in the significant assumptions noted above, have the potential to significantly impact the estimation of the Company’s asbestos-related liability.

Other Matters

On July 5, 2016, OI Inc. learned that the Enforcement Division of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) is conducting an investigation into certain accounting and control matters pertaining to the determination of its asbestos-related liabilities. On May 13, 2016, OI Inc. restated its consolidated financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 in order to correct an error related to its method for estimating its future asbestos-related liabilities. OI Inc. is cooperating with the SEC’s investigation. At this time, OI Inc. is unable to predict the outcome of this matter or provide meaningful quantification of how the final resolution of this matter may impact its future consolidated financial statements, results of operations, or cash flows.

Other litigation is pending against the Company, in many cases involving ordinary and routine claims incidental to the business of the Company and in others presenting allegations that are non-routine and involve compensatory, punitive or treble damage claims as well as other types of relief. The Company records a liability for such matters when it is both probable that the liability has been incurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Recorded amounts are reviewed and adjusted to reflect changes in the factors upon which the estimates are based, including additional information, negotiations, settlements and other events.