Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
9 Months Ended
Sep. 29, 2018
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
The Company self-insures its product liability, automotive, workers' compensation, and general liability losses up to $250 per occurrence. Catastrophic coverage has been purchased from third party insurers for occurrences in excess of $250 up to $40,000. The two risk areas involving the most significant accounting estimates are workers' compensation and automotive liability. Actuarial valuations performed by the Company's outside risk insurance expert were used by the Company's management to form the basis for workers' compensation and automotive liability loss reserves. The actuary contemplated the Company's specific loss history, actual claims reported, and industry trends among statistical and other factors to estimate the range of reserves required. Risk insurance reserves are comprised of specific reserves for individual claims and additional amounts expected for development of these claims, as well as for incurred but not yet reported claims. The Company believes that the liability of approximately $2,107 recorded for such risks is adequate as of September 29, 2018.

As of September 29, 2018, the Company has provided certain vendors and insurers letters of credit aggregating $6,936 related to our product purchases and insurance coverage for product liability, workers’ compensation, and general liability.

The Company self-insures group health claims up to an annual stop loss limit of $250 per participant. Historical group insurance loss experience forms the basis for the recognition of group health insurance reserves. Provisions for losses expected under these programs are recorded based on an analysis of historical insurance claim data and certain actuarial assumptions. The Company believes that the liability of approximately $1,814 recorded for such risks is adequate as of September 29, 2018.

The Company imports large quantities of fastener products which are subject to customs requirements and to tariffs and quotas set by governments through mutual agreements and bilateral actions. The Company could be subject to the assessment of additional duties and interest if it or its suppliers fail to comply with customs regulations or similar laws. The U.S. Department of Commerce (the "Department”) has received requests from petitioners to conduct administrative reviews of compliance with anti-dumping duty and countervailing duty laws for certain nails products sourced from Asian countries. The Company sourced products under review from vendors in China and Taiwan during the periods currently open for review, and it is at least reasonably possible that the Company may be subject to additional duties pending the results of the review. The Company accrues for the duty expense once it is determined to be probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. On March 16, 2018, the Department published updated results, which were finalized upon the completion of review of appeals in April 2018. 
Based on the final results, our liability was reduced to $2,146 at March 31, 2018 from $6,274 at December 30, 2017. The Company recorded income of $0 and $4,128 in the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 29, 2018, which is included in Cost of Goods Sold on the Condensed Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income (Loss). In the thirteen and thirty-nine weeks ended September 30, 2017, the Company recorded expense of $4,128 and $6,274, respectively, based on the Department's initial assessments.

On October 1, 2013, The Hillman Group, Inc. ("Hillman Group") filed a complaint against Minute Key Inc., a manufacturer of fully-automatic, self-service key duplication kiosks, in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio (Western Division), seeking a declaratory judgment of non-infringement and invalidity of a U.S. patent issued to Minute Key Inc. on September 10, 2013. Hillman Group's filing against Minute Key Inc. was in response to a letter dated September 10, 2013 in which Minute Key Inc. alleged that Hillman Group's FastKey™ product infringes the newly-issued patent. On October 23, 2013, Minute Key Inc. filed an answer and counterclaim against the Hillman Group alleging patent infringement. Minute Key Inc. also requested that the court dismiss the Hillman Group's complaint, enter judgment against the Hillman Group that the Company is willfully and deliberately infringing the patent, grant a permanent injunction, and award unspecified monetary damages to Minute Key Inc.

Minute Key Inc. later filed two motions on March 17, 2014 seeking to voluntarily withdraw its counterclaim alleging infringement by Hillman Group and also to dismiss Hillman Group's complaint for non-infringement and invalidity. Shortly after an April 23, 2014 court-ordered mediation, Minute Key Inc. provided Hillman Group with a covenant promising not to sue for infringement of two of its patents against any existing Hillman Group product, including the FastKey™ and Key Express™ products.

Hillman Group filed a motion on May 9, 2014 seeking to add additional claims to the case against Minute Key Inc. under Federal and Ohio state unfair competition statutes. These claims relate to Minute Key Inc.'s business conduct during competition with Hillman Group over a mutual client.
In an August 15, 2014 order, the court granted Minute Key Inc.'s March 17, 2014 motions to dismiss the claims relating to patent infringement and also granted Hillman Group's May 9, 2014 motion to add its unfair competition claims.
Hillman Group formally amended its complaint to add the unfair competition claims on September 4, 2014, and Minute Key Inc. answered on September 29, 2014 without filing any counterclaims. Minute Key Inc. filed a motion on October 1, 2014 to move the case from Cincinnati to either the District of Colorado or the Western District of Arkansas. The court denied that motion on February 3, 2015.

As a result of the Minute Key Inc. covenant not to sue, the Company's FastKey™ and Key Express™ products no longer face any threat of patent infringement liability from two of Minute Key Inc.'s patents. The scope of the lawsuit changed from a bilateral dispute over patent infringement to a lawsuit solely about Minute Key Inc.'s business conduct. Minute Key Inc. filed a motion for summary judgment on February 8, 2016. The court denied that motion on July 8, 2016. Following the denial of Minute Key Inc.’s summary judgment motion, a jury trial was held between August 24, 2016 and September 6, 2016. The jury returned a verdict in Hillman Group’s favor on September 6, 2016 finding that Minute Key Inc.’s actions violated the Federal Lanham Act and the Ohio Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Following this verdict against Minute Key Inc., Hillman Group filed post-trial motions for recovery of its costs, attorney fees, pre-and post-judgment interest, and an injunction.

Minute Key Inc. also filed a post-trial motion to set aside the jury verdict. On March 29, 2018, the court denied Minute Key’s motion, finding that there was sufficient evidence presented at trial to permit the jury to reach its September 6, 2016 verdict. Minute Key appealed the court’s decision on the motion and the jury verdict itself to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on April 27, 2018. On May 23, 2018, the parties filed a joint motion in the Court of Appeals requesting that the appeal be deactivated until Hillman’s post-trial motions are decided in the district court, and the Court of Appeals granted the motion and deactivated the appeal on May 29, 2018.

In view of the Company’s agreement to acquire Minute Key, the parties filed a joint motion in the district court on June 7, 2018 requesting that the district court hold all decisions on post-trial motions in abeyance pending the closing of the acquisition. The district court granted the motion on June 12, 2018 and stayed the proceedings. Following completion of the Company’s acquisition of Minute Key, the parties filed a joint motion on September 11, 2018 to lift the stay, vacate the Court’s September 8, 2016 judgment, and dismiss the case, including all pending post-trial motions. The court granted the motion on September 12, 2018, closing the district court case.

Minute Key moved to voluntarily dismiss its appeal in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on October 1, 2018, and the Court of Appeals granted the motion and dismissed the appeal on October 4, 2018. This dismissal ends all litigation between the Company and Minute Key.

In addition, legal proceedings are pending which are either in the ordinary course of business or incidental to the Company's business. Those legal proceedings incidental to the business of the Company are generally not covered by insurance or other indemnity. In the opinion of the Company's management, the ultimate resolution of the pending litigation matters will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position, operations, or cash flows of the Company.