FLEXSTEEL INDUSTRIES INC Commitments Disclosure

Environmental Matters – In March 2016, the Company received a General Notice Letter for the Lane Street Groundwater Superfund Site (the “Lane Street Site”) located in Elkhart, Indiana from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In April 2016, the EPA issued their proposed clean-up plan for groundwater pollution and request for public comment. The Company responded to the request for public comment in May 2016. The EPA issued a Record of Decision selecting a remedy in August 2016 and estimated total costs to remediate of $3.6 million. In July 2017, the EPA issued a Special Notice Letter to the Company demanding that the Company perform the remedy selected and pay for the remediation cost and past response costs of $5.5 million. On October 12, 2017, the Company, after consultation with its insurance carriers, offered an amount, fully reimbursable by insurance coverage, to the EPA to resolve this matter. On November 6, 2017, the settlement offer extended on October 12, 2017, was rejected.

In April 2018, the EPA issued a Unilateral Administrative Order for Remedial Design and Remedial Action (the “Order”) against the Company.  The Order was issued under Section 106(a) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 U.S.C. §9606(a).  The Order directs the Company to perform remedial design and remedial action for the Lane Street Site.  The Order was to be effective May 29, 2018.  To ensure completion of the remediation work, the EPA required the Company to secure financial assurance in the initial amount of $3.6 million, which as noted above, is the estimated cost of remedial work.  The Company believes that financial assurance is not required because it meets the relevant financial test criteria as provided in the Order. In May 2018, the EPA agreed to suspend enforcement of the Order so that the Company could conduct environmental testing upgradient to its former manufacturing location pursuant to an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC). On April 24, 2019, the Company signed an AOC with the EPA to conduct the upgradient investigation.  The Company negotiated site access to the upgradient property over a period of months in 2019, followed by completion of sampling activities on that property on September 28-29, 2019.  Following multiple exchanges from November 2019 through early 2020, the Company submitted a final and supplemental report to the EPA regarding the results of the upgradient investigation on June 17, 2020.  

In April 2021, the Company offered to settle the claim with the EPA for $8.5 million. On August 3, 2021, the EPA rejected the offer and then demanded that the Company perform remediation and pay the vast majority of the EPA’s past costs. On September 1, 2021, the Company extended two settlement options to the EPA. The first option is an $9.8 million cash out and the second option is estimated to be approximately $10.1 million and includes performance of the remedy and full site release. On October 31, 2021, the EPA expressed that the Company’s inclusion of a full site release in our settlement terms was unacceptable because of their need to include standard reopeners. Through an agreement with the EPA, the statute of limitations for potential claims by the EPA was extended through September 30, 2022.

Note, the Company reflected a $3.6 million liability in the Consolidated Balance Sheets for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2018. Despite the Company’s position that it did not cause nor contribute to the contamination, the Company continues to reflect this liability in the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of June 30, 2022, in accordance with FASB issued Asset Retirement and Environmental Obligations (ASC 410-30).

Employment Matters - On March 22, 2021, the Company received notice of a class action lawsuit filed against Flexsteel Industries, Inc., and J.K. Dittmer and D.P. Schmidt as individuals, by a number of employees who had worked at the Dubuque Operations and Starkville plants prior to the closure of the locations due to the impact of COVID-19 on the business at that period of time. The allegations with the claim include failure to pay employee benefits as required by an ERISA-governed severance plan, failure of J.K. Dittmer and D.P. Schmidt to act with respect to the ERISA-governed severance plan, and failure to provide 60-days’ notice or the equivalent amount of pay to the employees required by the WARN Act when the Company closed the Dubuque and Starkville locations. Flexsteel secured outside counsel for the defense of the claims. With outside counsel’s guidance, a motion to dismiss the ERISA claims against Flexsteel and J.K. Dittmer and D.P. Schmidt was filed with the court on May 3, 2021 and denied by the court on August 5, 2021. The parties participated in a lengthy mediation and on December 3, 2021, agreed to resolve the matter for $1.3 million. The Company expects full resolution of this matter after October 2022, and has a net liability on June 30, 2022, of $1.3 million, see Note 5 Restructuring.

Other Proceedings – From time to time, the Company is subject to various other legal proceedings, including lawsuits, which arise out of, and are incidental to, the conduct of the Company’s business. The Company does not consider any of such other proceedings that are currently pending, individually or in the aggregate, to be material to its business or likely to result in a material effect on its consolidated operating results, financial condition, or cash flows.