Note 7 Commitments and Contingencies

9 Months Ended

Jun. 27, 2020

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

ContingenciesFrom time to time, the Company is a party to litigation, claims and other contingencies, including environmental and employee matters and examinations and investigations by governmental agencies, which arise in the ordinary course of business. The Company records a contingent liability when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of loss is reasonably estimable in accordance with ASC Topic 450, Contingencies, or other applicable accounting standards. As of June 27, 2020 and September 28, 2019, the Company had reserves of $35 million and $36 million, respectively, for environmental matters, warranty, litigation and other contingencies (excluding reserves for uncertain tax positions) which the Company believes are adequate. However, there can be no assurance that the Company's reserves will be sufficient to settle these contingencies. Such reserves are included in accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities on the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets.

Legal Proceedings

Environmental Matters

The Company is subject to various federal, state, local and foreign laws and regulations and administrative orders concerning environmental protection, including those addressing the discharge of pollutants into the environment, the management and disposal of hazardous substances, the cleanup of contaminated sites, the materials used in products, and the recycling, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste. As of June 27, 2020, the Company had been named in a lawsuit and several administrative orders alleging certain of its current and former sites contributed to groundwater contamination. One such order demands that the Company and other alleged defendants remediate groundwater contamination at four landfills located in Northern California to which the Company may have sent wastewater in the past. The Company is participating in a working group of other alleged defendants to better understand its potential exposure in this action and has reserved its estimated exposure for this matter as of June 27, 2020. However, there can be no assurance that the Company's reserve will ultimately be sufficient.

In June 2008, the Company was named by the Orange County Water District in a suit alleging that its actions contributed to polluted groundwater managed by the plaintiff. The complaint seeks recovery of compensatory and other damages, as well as declaratory relief, for the payment of costs necessary to investigate, monitor, remediate, abate and contain contamination of groundwater within the plaintiff’s control. In April 2013, all claims against the Company were dismissed. The plaintiff appealed this dismissal and the appellate court reversed the judgment in August 2017. In November 2017, the California Supreme Court denied the Company’s petition to review this decision and, in December 2017, the Court of Appeal remanded the case back to the Superior Court for further proceedings. The first part of a multi-phase trial, originally scheduled to commence on September 14, 2020, has been postponed to April 12, 2021 due to COVID-19-related judicial disruption. The Company intends to contest the plaintiff’s claims vigorously.

Other Matters

Two of the Company’s subsidiaries in Brazil are parties to a number of administrative and judicial proceedings for claims alleging that these subsidiaries failed to comply with certain bookkeeping and tax rules for certain periods between 2001 and 2011. These claims seek payment of social fund contributions and income and excise taxes allegedly owed by the subsidiaries, as well as fines. The subsidiaries believe they have meritorious positions in these matters and intend to continue to contest the claims.

In October 2018, a contractor who had been retained by the Company through a third party temporary staffing agency from November 2015 to March 2016 filed a lawsuit against the Company in the Santa Clara County Superior Court on behalf of himself and all other similarly situated Company contractors and employees in California, alleging violations of California Labor Code provisions governing overtime, meal and rest periods, wages, wage statements and reimbursement of business expenses. The operative amended complaint seeks certification of a class of all non-exempt employees, whether employed directly or through a temporary staffing agency, employed from four years before the filing of the initial complaint to the time of trial. Additionally, on November 1, 2019, another contractor retained through a temporary staffing agency filed a lawsuit against the Company in the Santa Clara County Superior Court. The complaint, which includes a single cause of action under California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, alleges Labor Code violations substantially similar to those alleged in the October 2018 class action lawsuit and seeks penalties on behalf of the State of California and other “aggrieved employees” (defined to be current and former hourly, non-exempt employees employed by the Company between August 22, 2018 and the present). The Company intends to vigorously defend these matters.

In December 2019, the Company sued a former customer, Dialight plc (“Dialight”), in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to collect approximately $10 million in unpaid accounts receivable and net obsolete inventory obligations. Later the same day, Dialight commenced its own action in the same court. Dialight’s complaint, which asserts claims for fraudulent inducement, breach of contract, and gross negligence/willful misconduct, alleges that the Company fraudulently misrepresented its capabilities to induce Dialight to enter into a Manufacturing Services Agreement (the “Dialight MSA”), and then breached its obligations contained in the Dialight MSA relating to quality, on-time delivery and supply chain management. Dialight seeks an unspecified amount of compensatory and punitive damages. The Company intends to vigorously prosecute its claim against Dialight. Further, the Company strongly disagrees with Dialight’s allegations and intends to defend against them vigorously.

For each of the matters noted above, a loss is not currently considered probable and estimable and the Company is unable to reasonably estimate a range of possible loss at this time.

Other ContingenciesOne of the Company's most significant risks is the ultimate realization of accounts receivable and customer inventory exposures. This risk is partially mitigated by ongoing credit evaluations of, and frequent contact with, the Company's customers, especially its most significant customers, thus enabling the Company to monitor changes in business operations and respond accordingly. Customer bankruptcies also entail the risk of potential recovery by the bankruptcy estate of amounts previously paid to the Company that are deemed a preference under bankruptcy laws. Given the current economic environment resulting from the COVID-19 global pandemic, the Company continues to closely monitor the impact of the pandemic on all aspect of its business, including customer payment patterns and available information with respect to the financial condition of its customers and suppliers in order to identify potential problems early and implement risk mitigation measures. In the third quarter of 2020, two small customers of the Company declared bankruptcy, the impact of which was immaterial.