Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies

14. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

On March 26, 2013, our South African operations received Notice of Motion filed in the Kwazulu-Natal High Court, Durban, Republic of South Africa, filed against Rolalor (PTY) LTD (“Rolalor”) and Labyrinth Trading 18 (PTY) LTD (“Labyrinth”) by Jennifer Catherine Mary Shaw (“Shaw”). Rolalor and Labyrinth were the original entities formed to operate the Johannesburg and Durban locations, respectively. On September 9, 2011, the assets and the then-disclosed liabilities of these entities were transferred to Tundraspex (PTY) LTD (“Tundraspex”) and Dimaflo (PTY) LTD (“Dimaflo”), respectively. The current entities, Tundraspex and Dimaflo are not parties in the lawsuit. Shaw is requesting that the Respondents, Rolalor and Labyrinth, be wound up in satisfaction of an alleged debt owed in the total amount of R4,082,636 (approximately $480,000). The two Notices were defended and argued in the High Court of South Africa (Durban) on January 31, 2014. Madam Justice Steryi dismissed the action with costs on May 5, 2014. Ms. Shaw has appealed this decision. There has been no activity on this matter since 2014 and no amounts have been reflected in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

 

On January 28, 2016, our Just Fresh subsidiary was notified that it had been served with a copyright infringement complaint, Kevin Chelko Photography, Inc. v. JF Restaurants, LLC, Case No. 3:13-CV-60-GCM (W.D. N.C.). The claim was filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina Charlotte Division and seeks unspecified damages related to the use of certain photographic assets allegedly in violation of the United States copyright laws. The Company has full insurance coverage and has asserted numerous defenses in answer to the complaint, intends to defend itself fully and vigorously and no liability has been reflected in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

 

Prior to the Company’s acquisition of Little Big Burger, a class action lawsuit was filed in Oregon by certain current and former employees of Little Big Burger asserting that the former owners of Little Big Burger failed to compensate employees for overtime hours and also that an employee had been wrongfully terminated. The plaintiffs and defendants agreed to enter into a settlement agreement pursuant to which the former owners of Little Big Burger will pay a gross settlement of up to $675,000, inclusive of plaintiffs’ attorney’s fees of $225,000. This settlement was preliminarily approved by the court on February 2, 2016 and it is expected that all settlement payments will be distributed by the sellers and this matter closed prior to September 30, 2016. In connection with our acquisition of Little Big Burger, the sellers agreed that the 1,619,646 shares of the Company’s common stock certain of the sellers received from the Company and an additional $200,000 in cash would be held in escrow until such time as the litigation was fully resolved. The Company does not expect that it will be required to expend any funds related to the settlement as certain of the Sellers have agreed to retain the obligations and have set aside sufficient funds to cover the settlement. However, as the Company assumed all liabilities of Little Big Burger in the acquisition and would be required to fulfill the settlement if the sellers were unable or otherwise failed to fully fund the settlement, the Company has reflected the $675,000 settlement amount in accrued liabilities, with an offsetting asset in other current assets, in the accompanying consolidated balance sheets as of June 30, 2016 and December 31, 2015.

 

From time to time, the Company may be involved in legal proceedings and claims that have arisen in the ordinary course of business.