Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]

17.   Commitments and Contingencies

The Company and its former Chief Executive Officer, Louis D. Paolino, Jr., settled various legal actions they had filed against each other. The settlement was entered into on October 26, 2010. As part of the settlement, the Company paid Mr. Paolino a total of $4,610,000 in the fourth quarter of 2010. As previously disclosed in the Company's filings under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), an arbitration panel of the American Arbitration Association awarded Mr. Paolino the sum of $4,148,912 on May 4, 2010 as damages and a supplemental award of $738,835 for legal fees in connection with various claims filed by Mr. Paolino in connection with his termination as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer on May 20, 2008 (the “Arbitration Awards”).

During 2008, the Company conducted a remediation of certain hazardous wastes at its Bennington, Vermont facility under an Administrative Consent Order entered into between the Company, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”), and Benmont Mill Properties, Inc. ("Benmont"), the owner of the facility. The EPA accepted the final report of the remediation in 2009. On April 8, 2010, the Company paid the EPA $216,086 as an oversight cost reimbursement. During the quarter ended September 30, 2010, Benmont reimbursed the Company 15% of the amount paid to the EPA, or $32,413. Total costs relating to the remediation of approximately $786,000 were recorded through the quarter ended December 31, 2009, and included disposal costs of the waste materials, as well as expenses incurred to engage environmental engineers and legal counsel and reimbursement of the EPA’s costs.

On November 16, 2010, the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont (the “U.S. Attorney”) filed a one count indictment charging Mace Security International, Inc. and Jon Goodrich with a felony of storing hazardous waste without a permit under 42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A) at the Company’s Bennington, Vermont location. Mr. Goodrich was the President of Mace Personal Defense, Inc., the Company's defense spray division located in Bennington, Vermont. Mr. Goodrich is also the owner of Benmont, the owner of the Bennington, Vermont facility and the owner of Vermont Mills Properties, Inc., the entity that rents the Bennington, Vermont facility to the Company. The Company resolved the indictment against the Company, through a Plea Agreement entered into between the Company's subsidiary, Mace Personal Defense, Inc., and the U.S. Attorney. The Plea Agreement was accepted by the Federal District Court for Vermont on May 26, 2011. Mace Personal Defense, Inc. pled guilty to one count of violating 42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A) (Storage of Hazardous Waste Without a Permit) and was fined $100,000 (the "Fine"). The Fine was fully paid during 2011. In addition, the Company incurred legal expenses of $61,300 and $82,300 in the years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively, relating to this matter.

The indictment charging Jon Goodrich was resolved with a guilty plea accepted by the Federal District Court in January, 2012. Mr. Goodrich pled guilty to a felony for storing hazardous waste without a permit under 42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A) at the Company’s Bennington, Vermont location and agreed to a fine of $100,000. Mr. Goodrich is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2012. The Company has to date advanced Mr. Goodrich the cost of his defense under the provisions of Article 6 of the Company's Bylaws. The advancements through December 31, 2011 were $83,178, which is included in the legal expense amounts disclosed in the above paragraph. The Company and Mr. Goodrich have entered into an Agreement ("Indemnity Agreement") on January 12, 2012 providing that the Company would not pay any portion of a fine imposed on Mr. Goodrich. The Indemnity Agreement also set a maximum limit to future advancements and indemnity claims of $25,000 with regard to any costs incurred by Mr. Goodrich after November 9, 2011. In exchange for Mr. Goodrich limiting future indemnity claims and agreeing to a five year non-compete agreement with the Company, the Company agreed not to seek recovery of any advancements it paid.

The Company is a party to various other legal proceedings related to its ordinary business activities. In the opinion of the Company’s management, none of these proceedings are material in relation to the Company’s results of operations, liquidity, cash flows, or financial condition.