Commitments and Contingencies | 10. Commitments and Contingencies Legal Matters Texas Patron Tax In 2015, the Company reached a settlement with the State of Texas over the payment of the state’s Patron Tax on adult club customers. To resolve the issue of taxes owed, the Company agreed to pay $ 10.0 119,000 5 10.0 9.6% 7.2 8.2 7.2 In March 2017, the Company settled with the State of Texas for one of the two remaining unsettled Patron Tax locations. To resolve the issue of taxes owed, the Company agreed to pay a total of $ 687,815 195,815 60 8,200 The aggregate balance of Patron Tax settlement liability, which is included in long-term debt in the unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheets, amounted to $ 2.5 million and $ 3.4 million as of June 30, 2020 and September 30, 2019, respectively. A declaratory judgment action was brought by five operating subsidiaries of the Company to challenge a Texas Comptroller administrative rule related to the $ 5 RCI HOSPITALITY HOLDINGS, INC. NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited) Indemnity Insurance Corporation As previously reported, the Company and its subsidiaries were insured under a liability policy issued by Indemnity Insurance Corporation, RRG (“IIC”) through October 25, 2013. The Company and its subsidiaries changed insurance companies on that date. On November 7, 2013, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware entered a Rehabilitation and Injunction Order (“Rehabilitation Order”), which declared IIC impaired, insolvent and in an unsafe condition and placed IIC under the supervision of the Insurance Commissioner of the State of Delaware (“Commissioner”) in her capacity as receiver (“Receiver”). The Rehabilitation Order empowered the Commissioner to rehabilitate IIC through a variety of means, including gathering assets and marshaling those assets as necessary. Further, the order stayed or abated pending lawsuits involving IIC as the insurer until May 6, 2014. On April 10, 2014, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware entered a Liquidation and Injunction Order With Bar Date (“Liquidation Order”), which ordered the liquidation of IIC and terminated all insurance policies or contracts of insurance issued by IIC. The Liquidation Order further ordered that all claims against IIC must have been filed with the Receiver before the close of business on January 16, 2015 and that all pending lawsuits involving IIC as the insurer were further stayed or abated until October 7, 2014. As a result, the Company and its subsidiaries no longer have insurance coverage under the liability policy with IIC. The Company has retained counsel to defend against and evaluate these claims and lawsuits. We are funding 100% Shareholder Class and Derivative Actions In May and June 2019, three putative securities class action complaints were filed against RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. and certain of its officers in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division. The complaints allege violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 10b-5 promulgated thereunder based on alleged materially false and misleading statements made in the Company’s SEC filings and disclosures as they relate to various alleged transactions by the Company and management. The complaints seek unspecified damages, costs, and attorneys’ fees. These lawsuits are Hoffman v. RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc., et al. (filed May 21, 2019, naming the Company and Eric Langan); Gu v. RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc., et al. (filed May 28, 2019, naming the Company, Eric Langan, and Phil Marshall); and Grossman v. RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc., et al. (filed June 28, 2019, naming the Company, Eric Langan, and Phil Marshall). The plaintiffs in all three cases moved to consolidate the purported class actions. On January 10, 2020 an order consolidating the Hoffman, Grossman, and Gu cases was entered by the Court. The consolidated case is styled In re RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc., No. 4:19-cv-01841. On February 24, 2020, the plaintiffs in the consolidated case filed an Amended Class Action Complaint, continuing to allege violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and 10b-5 promulgated thereunder. In addition to naming the Company, Eric Langan, and Phil Marshall, the amended complaint also adds director Nour-Dean Anakar and former director Steven Jenkins as defendants. On April 24, 2020, the Company and the individual defendants moved to dismiss the amended complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. As of July 23, 2020, briefing on the motion to dismiss is complete, and we are currently waiting for the court to rule on the motion. The Company intends to continue to vigorously defend against this action. This action is in its preliminary phase, and a potential loss cannot yet be estimated. RCI HOSPITALITY HOLDINGS, INC. NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited) On August 16, 2019, a shareholder derivative action was filed in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division against officers and directors, Eric S. Langan, Phillip Marshall, Nour-Dean Anakar, Yura Barabash, Luke Lirot, Travis Reese, former director Steven Jenkins, and RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc., as nominal defendant. The action alleges that the individual officers and directors made or caused the Company to make a series of materially false and/or misleading statements and omissions regarding the Company’s business, operations, prospects, and legal compliance and engaged in or caused the Company to engage in, inter alia, related party transactions, questionable uses of corporate assets, and failure to maintain internal controls. The action asserts claims for breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, abuse of control, gross mismanagement, waste of corporate assets, and violations of Sections 14(a), 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint seeks injunctive relief, damages, restitution, costs, and attorneys’ fees. The case, Cecere v. Langan, et al. SEC Matter and Internal Review In mid- and late 2018, a series of negative articles about the Company was anonymously published in forums associated with the short-selling community. Subsequently in 2019, the SEC initiated an informal inquiry. In connection with these events, a special committee of the Company’s audit committee engaged independent outside counsel to conduct an internal review. Management of the Company fully cooperated with the internal review conducted by the special committee and its outside counsel. The board of directors has implemented the recommendations resulting from the internal review. As of the date hereof, the internal review has been completed subject to any ongoing cooperation with regulatory authorities. Since the initiation of the informal inquiry by the SEC in early 2019, the Company and its management have fully cooperated and continue to fully cooperate with the SEC matter, which has now converted to a formal investigation and is ongoing. At this time, the Company is unable to predict the duration, scope, result or related costs associated with the investigation. The Company is also unable to predict what, if any, action may be taken as a result of the investigation. Any determination by the SEC that the Company’s activities were not in compliance with federal securities laws or regulations, however, could result in the imposition of fines, penalties, disgorgement, or equitable relief, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company. Other On March 26, 2016, an image infringement lawsuit was filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York against the Company and several of its subsidiaries. Plaintiffs allege that their images were misappropriated, intentionally altered and published without their consent by clubs affiliated with the Company. The causes of action asserted in Plaintiffs’ Complaint include alleged violations of the Federal Lanham Act, the New York Civil Rights Act, and other statutory and common law theories. The Company contends that there is insurance coverage under an applicable insurance policy. The insurer has raised several issues regarding coverage under the policy. At this time, this disagreement remains unresolved. The Company has denied all allegations, continues to vigorously defend against the lawsuit and continues to believe the matter is covered by insurance. The Company has been sued by a landlord in the 333rd Judicial District Court of Harris County, Texas for a Houston Bombshells which was under renovation in 2015. The plaintiff alleges RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc.’s subsidiary, BMB Dining Services (Willowbrook), Inc., breached a lease agreement by constructing an outdoor patio, which allegedly interfered with the common areas of the shopping center, and by failing to provide Plaintiff with proposed plans before beginning construction. Plaintiff also asserts RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. is liable as guarantor of the lease. The lease was for a Bombshells restaurant to be opened in the Willowbrook Shopping Center in Houston, Texas. Both RCI Hospitality Holdings, Inc. and BMB Dining Services (Willowbrook), Inc. have denied liability and assert that Plaintiff has failed to mitigate its claimed damages. Further, BMB Dining Services (Willowbrook), Inc. asserts that Plaintiff affirmatively represented that the patio could be constructed under the lease and has filed counter claims and third-party claims against Plaintiff and Plaintiff’s manager asserting that they committed fraud and that the landlord breached the applicable agreements. The case was tried to a jury in late September 2018 and an adverse judgment was entered in January 2019 in the amount totaling $ 1.0 690,000 RCI HOSPITALITY HOLDINGS, INC. NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Unaudited) On June 23, 2014, Mark H. Dupray and Ashlee Dupray filed a lawsuit against Pedro Antonio Panameno and our subsidiary JAI Dining Services (Phoenix) Inc. (“JAI Phoenix”) in the Superior Court of Arizona for Maricopa County. The suit alleged that Mr. Panameno injured Mr. Dupray in a traffic accident after being served alcohol at an establishment operated by JAI Phoenix. The suit alleged that JAI Phoenix was liable under theories of common law dram shop negligence and dram shop negligence per se. After a jury trial proceeded to a verdict in favor of the plaintiffs against both defendants, in April 2017 the Court entered a judgment under which JAI Phoenix’s share of compensatory damages is approximately $ 1.4 4 As set forth in the risk factors as disclosed in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2019, the adult entertainment industry standard is to classify adult entertainers as independent contractors, not employees. While we take steps to ensure that our adult entertainers are deemed independent contractors, from time to time, we are named in lawsuits related to the alleged misclassification of entertainers. Claims are brought under both federal and where applicable, state law. Based on the industry standard, the manner in which the independent contractor entertainers are treated at the clubs, and the entertainer license agreements governing the entertainer’s work at the clubs, the Company believes that these lawsuits are without merit. Lawsuits are handled by attorneys with an expertise in the relevant law and are defended vigorously. Due to several COVID-19 regulations and restrictions imposed on some of our businesses by local municipalities and/or States, certain of our subsidiaries are plaintiffs to lawsuits that have been filed on behalf of the affected entities to have the restrictions eased or removed entirely. The lawsuits may increase or decrease based on the spread of the disease and new or additional restrictions placed on our businesses. General In the regular course of business affairs and operations, we are subject to possible loss contingencies arising from third-party litigation and federal, state, and local environmental, labor, health and safety laws and regulations. We assess the probability that we could incur liability in connection with certain of these lawsuits. Our assessments are made in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, as codified in ASC 450-20, and is not an admission of any liability on the part of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. In certain cases that are in the early stages and in light of the uncertainties surrounding them, we do not currently possess sufficient information to determine a range of reasonably possible liability. In matters where there is insurance coverage, in the event we incur any liability, we believe it is unlikely we would incur losses in connection with these claims in excess of our insurance coverage. Settlements of lawsuits for the three and nine months ended June 30, 2020 total approximately $ 50,000 74,000 0 144,000 75,000 115,000 |