19. Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Leases—The Company leases real estate and various equipment under operating lease agreements. Future minimum payments over the lease term of non-cancelable operating leases with initial terms of one year or more consisted of the following at April 26, 2015:

Fiscal Years Ending:
2016		11,508
2017		11,023
2018		10,751
2019		10,692
2020		8,123
Therafter		144,348

Total minimum lease payments	$	196,445

Rent expense related to continuing operations was $26,376, $27,721, and $27,363, in fiscal years 2015, 2014, and 2013, respectively. Such amounts include contingent rentals of $3,012, $2,926, and $3,315 in fiscal years 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. Contingent rent is based upon casino revenues or other metrics as defined in our lease agreements. Certain of our leases are subject to renewals and may contain escalation clauses.

Legal and Regulatory Proceedings—In October 2012, we opened our new casino in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. A subcontractor filed a mechanics' lien against our property resulting from a dispute between the subcontractor and our general contractor for the construction project. We demanded the general contractor cause the lien to be bonded against or satisfied, however the general contractor refused to do so and asserted that a portion of the subcontractor's claim resulted from additional work directly requested by us. In October 2013, the subcontractor filed suit against our wholly-owned subsidiary IOC-Cape Girardeau, LLC, the general contractor and two other defendants alleging various contract and equitable claims and is seeking damages of approximately $3,800. In August 2014, we filed a cross claim against the general contractor alleging breach of contract and various indemnity claims. The outcome of this matter is still in doubt and cannot be predicted with any degree of certainty. In the event that we incur any costs in connection with this matter, we do not believe that any such costs would be material, and if incurred, the settlement of construction costs would be capitalized.

We and our wholly-owned subsidiary, Riverboat Corporation of Mississippi—Vicksburg, have been defendants in a lawsuit filed in the Circuit Court of Adams County, Mississippi by Silver Land, Inc., alleging breach of contract in connection with our 2006 sale of casino operations in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The court originally ruled in favor of Silver Land and awarded damages of $1,979, which we accrued. We appealed the decision and in June 2013 the court of appeals reversed the trial court and ruled in our favor. Silver Land filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in November 2013 requesting review by the Mississippi Supreme Court. On February 20, 2014, the Mississippi Supreme Court denied Silver Land's request, which effectively disposed of the matter in its entirety. As a result, during the three and nine months ended January 26, 2014, we reversed a litigation accrual of $2,223, of which $1,979 was recorded as a reduction to operating expenses and $244 was recorded as a reduction to interest expense.

Our wholly owned subsidiary, Lady Luck Gaming Corporation, and several joint venture partners have been defendants in the Greek Civil Courts and the Greek Administrative Courts in similar lawsuits brought by the country of Greece. The actions alleged that the defendants failed to make specified payments in connection with the gaming license bid process for Patras, Greece. In the Civil Court lawsuit, the Civil Court of First Instance ruled in our favor and dismissed the lawsuit in 2001. The lawsuits continued through the appeals process and in October 2013, the Supreme Administrative Court rejected both lawsuits in a final and irrevocable decision which disposed of this matter completely. As a result, during the nine months ended January 26, 2014, we reversed a litigation accrual of $14,730, of which $7,351 was recorded as a reduction to operating expenses and $7,379 was recorded as a reduction to interest expense.

We are subject to certain federal, state and local environmental protection, health and safety laws, regulations and ordinances that apply to businesses generally, and are subject to cleanup requirements at certain of our facilities as a result thereof. We have not made, and do not anticipate making material expenditures, nor do we anticipate incurring delays with respect to environmental remediation or protection. However, in part because our present and future development sites have, in some cases, been used as manufacturing facilities or other facilities that generate materials that are required to be remediated under environmental laws and regulations, there can be no guarantee that additional pre-existing conditions will not be discovered and we will not experience material liabilities or delays.

We are subject to various contingencies and litigation matters and have a number of unresolved claims. Although the ultimate liability of these contingencies, this litigation and these claims cannot be determined at this time, we believe they will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

On February 1, 2013, we signed an agreement with Tower Investments, Inc. to manage The Provence, the resort and casino on North Broad Street, Philadelphia, proposed by Tower Entertainment, LLC (the "Tower JV"), if the project was selected by the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board. The agreement included a commitment for a loan that was secured by a stand by letter of credit of $25,000, which could only be drawn upon if the Tower JV was awarded the license. In November 2014, the license was awarded to another applicant and we cancelled the letter of credit. In December 2014, we terminated all of our agreements with Tower Investments, Inc.