During the third quarter of fiscal 2016, we announced a financial improvement plan that resulted in a reduction in global headcount of approximately 11%. This plan was implemented to re-align our fixed costs with our near-to mid-term expectations for our business. By the end of fiscal 2018, we had completed the plan that was announced.

In January 2018, a judge in a trade secrets case brought by Perceptron granted the defendants’ motions for recovery of their attorney fees (see Note 16, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Commitments and Contingencies – Legal Proceedings” for further discussion relating to this matter). A charge in the amount of $675,000 was recorded as a liability in the second quarter of fiscal 2018. We appealed this court decision. In January 2019, we settled with the defendants and ended our appeal in return for a net payment due to them in the amount of $66,000. As a result, in the second quarter of fiscal 2019, we adjusted our accrual.

In fiscal 2019, we announced that in reaction to short-term revenue trends, we had implemented a plan to reduce fixed costs, including position eliminations and headcount reductions. Cash pre-tax charges related to the actions are approximately $0.1 million.

During the fourth quarter of fiscal 2019, we completed our annual goodwill impairment test (see Note 1, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies – Goodwill” and Note 6 – “Goodwill” for further discussion) and as a result, recorded an impairment charge in the amount of $6,020,000. Furthermore, there were indications of impairment of some of our intangible assets (see Note 1, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies – Intangible Assets” and Note 7, of the Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements, “Intangible Assets” for further discussion) and as a result, recorded an impairment charge of $1,384,000.

The charges recorded as Severance, Impairment and Other Charges are as follows (in thousands):

	Fiscal Years Ended June 30,
	2019			2018
Severance and Related Costs	$	135		$	(13	)
Court Award / Settlement		(609	)		675
Receivable and Inventory Write-Off		-			(59	)
Impairments of Goodwill and Intangible Assets		7,404			-
Total	$	6,930		$	603

Severance expense for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2019 was associated with headcount reductions at our U.S. (expense of $125,000) and Germany (expense of $10,000) locations.

Severance expense for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018 was associated with adjustments at our China (income of $15,000) and U.S. (expense of $2,000) locations as we reached final settlements related to several individuals impacted by the reduction in force. In fiscal 2018, there was a recovery of certain previously written off receivable balances, and the recognition in 2018 that certain inventory previously written off could be used.

The following table reconciles the activity for the Reserve for Restructuring and Other Charges (in thousands):

	2019			2018
Balance at beginning of year	$	675		$	1,113
Accruals - Severance Related		135			(13	)
Accruals / Adjustments - Court Award / Settlement		(609	)		675
Payments		(157	)		(1,100	)
Balance at end of year	$	44		$	675

The remaining balance as of June 30, 2019 is the accrual for the reduction in force in the U.S. and is expected to be paid out within the next fiscal quarter.