COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

9 Months Ended

Jun. 29, 2024

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

Commitments and Contingencies

From time to time, the Company is a party to litigation, claims and other contingencies, including environmental, regulatory 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 29, 2024 and September 30, 2023, the Company had estimated liabilities of $37 million and $34 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 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.

In June 2008, the Company was named by the Orange County Water District in a suit alleging that a predecessor company’s actions at a plant the Company sold in 1998 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. In April 2013, all claims against the Company were dismissed. The plaintiff appealed this dismissal and the Court of Appeal reversed the judgment in August 2017, remanding the case back to the Superior Court of California for trial. The trial against the Company and several other defendants commenced in April 2021 and the submission of evidence concluded in May 2022. On April 3, 2023, the court published a statement of decision finding the Company and other remaining defendants liable for certain past investigation costs incurred by the plaintiff. Subsequent proceedings to assess the Company’s and other defendants’ liability for the plaintiff’s future remediation and other costs, including attorneys’ fees, were expected. However, without admitting any liability, in June 2024, the Company and plaintiff agreed in principle to settle this matter and all pending litigation in exchange for the Company’s payment to the plaintiff of $3 million. The settlement remains subject to customary documentation and a good faith settlement determination by the court, which is expected by November 2024.

Other 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 unpaid accounts receivable and net obsolete inventory obligations now totaling $9 million (exclusive of interest and attorneys’ fees). On the same day the Company filed its suit, Dialight commenced its own action in the same court. As the case now stands, Dialight alleges that the Company fraudulently misrepresented its capabilities to induce Dialight to enter into a Manufacturing Services Agreement (“MSA”) and then allegedly committed multiple willful breaches of contract when performing under the MSA. Dialight is currently seeking compensatory damages of approximately $93 million - an amount the Company considers vastly overstated and subject to a contractual limitation of liability that, subject to certain standard warranty and equipment liability carve-outs, caps any Dialight recovery at a maximum of $2 million - plus punitive damages, interest and attorneys’ fees. The Company continues to vigorously prosecute its claims against Dialight. Further, the Company strongly disagrees with Dialight’s allegations and is vigorously defending against Dialight’s claims. A trial in this matter, originally scheduled for July 2024, will be held in September 2024.

In May 2023, the Company and its SCI Technology, Inc. subsidiary (“SCI”) received Civil Investigative Demands (“CIDs”) from the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”) pursuant to the civil False Claims Act (“FCA”). The stated purpose of the CIDs—a form of subpoena requiring responses to written interrogatories and the production of documents relating to certain contracts, projects, proposals and business activities of SCI going back to 2010—is to determine whether there is or has been a violation of the FCA with respect to the provision of products and services to the government. These CIDs supplement several CIDs relating to the same subject matter served upon SCI and certain current and former SCI and Sanmina employees beginning in August 2020, pursuant to which SCI produced documents and information and certain of the current and former employees provided oral testimony. The Company and SCI cooperated with the DOJ investigation. On May 13, 2024, the Company learned that United States of America ex rel. Carl R. Eckert v. SCI Technology, Inc. et al. (the “Eckert Qui Tam Suit”) had been filed under seal in June 2020, and is now unsealed. The Eckert Qui Tam Suit, filed by a former SCI employee, alleges on behalf of the United States 16 FCA claims that relate substantially to the same contracts and issues that

the DOJ has investigated over the past four years. On May 13, 2024, the Company also learned that the DOJ had filed a notice in the Eckert Qui Tam Suit stating that, while its investigation would continue, it was declining to intervene at the current time. The Company and SCI intend to defend vigorously against the claims made in the Eckert Qui Tam Suit. The Company is unable to predict the ultimate outcome of the Eckert Qui Tam Suit, although a loss is currently not considered to be probable or estimable.

On November 14, 2023, Gerardo Ramirez, an employee at the Company’s Newark, California plant, filed two lawsuits against the Company in the Alameda County Superior Court (together, the “Ramirez Cases”). The first, a putative class action (as amended in February 2024), alleges violations of various California Labor Code and Wage Order requirements, including provisions governing overtime, meal and rest periods, minimum wage requirements, payment of wages during employment, wage statements, payroll records, and reimbursement of business expenses. The class action complaint seeks certification of a class of all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for the Company within the State of California at any time between March 1, 2021 and final judgment, as well as unspecified damages, penalties, restitution, attorneys’ fees, pre-judgment interest, and costs of suit. The second action, a complaint under California’s Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (Labor Code §§ 2698 et seq.) (“PAGA”), alleges substantially similar violations and a violation of the provision governing payment of final wages and seeks penalties individually and on behalf of the State of California and other “aggrieved employees,” along with attorneys’ fees and costs. On May 16, 2024 and June 14, 2024, former employee Carlos Lobatos filed class and PAGA actions in the Santa Clara County Superior Court (the “Lobatos Cases”) alleging violations substantially similar to the violations in the Ramirez Cases, and, in the case of the Lobatos PAGA action, additional violations related to sick leave, suitable rest facilities, seating, failure to retain and provide employment and payroll records, reporting time pay, day of rest rules, payroll deductions, paid time off, and various unlawful employment practices. The Lobatos class action complaint seeks certification of a class of all current and former non-exempt employees who worked for the Company (directly or via a staffing agency) within the State of California at any time between May 16, 2020 and final judgment, as well as unspecified damages, penalties, restitution, attorneys’ fees, pre-judgment interest, and costs of suit. The Company expects the Lobatos Cases to be related to or consolidated with the Ramirez Cases and intends to defend all such cases vigorously.

For each of the pending matters noted above, the Company is unable to reasonably estimate a range of possible loss at this time.

In addition, from time to time, the Company may become involved in routine legal proceedings, demands, claims, threatened litigation and regulatory inquiries and investigations that arise in the normal course of our business. The Company records liabilities for such matters when a loss becomes probable and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. The ultimate outcome of any litigation is uncertain and unfavorable outcomes could have a negative impact on the Company’s results of operations and financial condition.