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COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Unconditional Purchase Obligations

The Company purchases materials and services from a variety of suppliers and manufacturers. During the normal course of business and to manage manufacturing operations and general and administrative activities, the Company may enter into firm, non-cancelable, and unconditional purchase obligations for which amounts are not recorded on the consolidated balance sheets.  As of June 30, 2016, the Company had outstanding off-balance sheet third-party manufacturing, component purchase, and other general and administrative commitments of $164.2 million.

Other Guarantees and Obligations

In the ordinary course of business, the Company may provide indemnifications of varying scope and terms to customers, vendors, lessors, business partners, purchasers of assets or subsidiaries and other parties with respect to certain matters, including, but not limited to, losses arising out of the Company's breach of agreements or representations and warranties made by the Company, services to be provided by the Company, intellectual property infringement claims made by third parties or, with respect to the sale of assets of a subsidiary, matters related to the Company's conduct of business and tax matters prior to the sale. From time to time, the Company indemnifies customers against combinations of loss, expense, or liability arising from various triggering events relating to the sale and use of its products and services.  

In addition, the Company also provides protection to customers against claims related to undiscovered liabilities, additional product liability, or environmental obligations.  In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with its directors and certain of its officers that will require the Company, among other things, to indemnify them against certain liabilities that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers of the Company. The Company maintains director and officer liability insurance, which may cover certain liabilities arising from its obligation to indemnify its directors and officers in certain circumstances. It is not possible to determine the aggregate maximum potential loss under these agreements due to the limited history of prior claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular claim. Such indemnification obligations might not be subject to maximum loss clauses. Historically, the Company has not incurred material costs as a result of obligations under these agreements and it has not accrued any liabilities related to such indemnification obligations in the condensed consolidated financial statements.

Claims and Litigation

On October 12, 2012, GN Netcom, Inc. ("GN") sued the Company in the United States ("U.S.") District Court for the District of Delaware, alleging violations of the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and Delaware common law. In its complaint, GN specifically alleges four causes of action: monopolization, attempted monopolization, concerted action in restraint of trade, and tortious interference with business relations. GN claims that the Company dominates the market for headsets sold into contact centers in the U.S. and that a critical channel for sales of headsets to contact centers is through a limited network of specialized independent distributors (“SIDs”). GN asserts that the Company attracts SIDs through exclusive distributor agreements and alleges that the use of these agreements is illegal.

On July 6, 2016, the Court in GN Netcom, Inc. v. Plantronics, Inc. ordered the following sanctions against the Company as they relate to certain discovery matters in the litigation: (1) monetary sanctions in the form of reasonable fees and costs incurred by GN in connection with the discovery disputes leading to the motion for sanctions; (2) punitive sanctions in the amount of $3 million; (3) possible evidentiary sanctions; and (4) instructions to the jury that it may draw an adverse inference that emails destroyed by the Company would have been favorable to GN’s case and/or unfavorable to the Company's defense. As a result, during the three months ended June 30, 2016, the Company has accrued $3 million for the punitive sanctions and an additional $2 million, representing the Company’s best estimate of reasonable fees and costs incurred by GN in connection with the disputes leading to the motion for sanctions, for a total of $5 million.  This amount is included within accrued liabilities on its condensed consolidated balance sheet. The Company believes the order may be appealed and reversed upon a favorable resolution of the underlying antitrust case.
 
The Company believes that the underlying antitrust action is without merit and is vigorously defending itself. However, following the court order described above, there exists an increased risk of the jury finding in favor of the plaintiff. The date for further proceedings of the underlying antitrust case has not yet been scheduled. The Company is unable to provide an estimate of the possible loss or range of possible loss resulting from these allegations and has not accrued any financial damages relating to the antitrust case.
 
In addition to the specific matters discussed above, the Company is involved in various legal proceedings arising in the normal course of conducting business.  For such legal proceedings, where applicable, the Company has accrued an amount that reflects the aggregate liability deemed probable and estimable, but this amount is not material to the Company's financial condition, results of operations, or cash flows.  With respect to proceedings for which no accrual has been made, the Company is not able to estimate an amount or range of any reasonably possible additional losses because of the preliminary nature of many of these proceedings, the difficulty in ascertaining the applicable facts relating to many of these proceedings, the variable treatment of claims made in many of these proceedings, and the difficulty of predicting the settlement value of many of these proceedings.  However, based upon the Company's historical experience, the resolution of these proceedings is not expected to have a material effect on the Company's financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.  The Company may incur substantial legal fees, which are expensed as incurred, in defending against these legal proceedings.