Commitments and Contingencies |
17) Commitments and Contingencies
From time to time we are involved in legal proceedings that are incidental to the operation of our businesses. Some of these proceedings allege damages relating to environmental liabilities, intellectual property matters, copyright infringement, personal injury claims, employment and pension matters, government contract issues and commercial or contractual disputes, sometimes related to acquisitions or divestitures. We will continue to vigorously defend against all claims. Although the ultimate outcome of any legal matter cannot be predicted with certainty, based on present information including our assessment of the merits of the particular claim, as well as our current reserves and insurance coverage, we do not expect that such legal proceedings will have any material adverse impact on our cash flow, results of operations, or financial condition on a consolidated basis in the foreseeable future, unless otherwise noted below.
Asbestos Matters
ITT, including its subsidiary Goulds Pumps, Inc. (Goulds), has been joined as a defendant with numerous other companies in product liability lawsuits alleging personal injury due to asbestos exposure. These claims allege that certain of our products sold prior to 1985 contained a part manufactured by a third party, e.g., a gasket, which contained asbestos. To the extent these third-party parts may have contained asbestos, it was encapsulated in the gasket (or other) material and was non-friable. In certain other cases, it is alleged that former ITT companies were distributors for other manufacturers products that may have contained asbestos.
As of March31, 2010, there were 104,999 open claims against ITT filed in various state and federal courts alleging injury as a result of exposure to asbestos. Activity related to these asserted asbestos claims during the period was as follows:
2010 2009
Open claims(a) January 1 104,679 103,006
New claims 1,286 1,154
Settlements (247 ) (461 )
Dismissals (719 ) (1,122 )
Adjustment(b) 3,208
Open claims(a) March 31 104,999 105,785
(a) Excludes 34,813 claims related to maritime actions that have been placed on inactive dockets, which the Company believes will not be litigated. Almost all of these claims were filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio and transferred to the Eastern District of Pennsylvania pursuant to an order by the Federal Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation (MDL).
(b) Reflects an adjustment to increase the number of open claims as a result of transitioning claims data from our primary insurance companies to an internal database.
Frequently, the plaintiffs are unable to identify any ITT or Goulds product as a source of asbestos exposure. In addition, in a large majority of the 104,999 pending claims against the Company, the plaintiffs are unable to demonstrate any injury. Many of those cl |