Item 3. Legal Proceedings
Item 3 - Legal Proceedings
The Company is subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of its business. Although the amount of any liability that could arise with respect to these actions cannot be determined with certainty, in the Company’s opinion, any such liability will not have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, consolidated results of operations or liquidity.
Shareholders Class Action : On August 5, 2013, VTBH and the Company (f/k/a Parametric Sound Corporation) announced that they had entered into the Merger Agreement pursuant to which VTBH would acquire an approximately 80% ownership interest and existing shareholders would maintain an approximately 20% ownership interest in the combined company (the “Merger”). Following the announcement, several shareholders filed class action lawsuits in California and Nevada seeking to enjoin the Merger. The plaintiffs in each case alleged that members of the Company’s Board of Directors breached their fiduciary duties to the shareholders by agreeing to a merger that allegedly undervalued the Company. VTBH and the Company were named as defendants in these lawsuits under the theory that they had aided and abetted the Company’s Board of Directors in allegedly violating their fiduciary duties. The plaintiffs in both cases sought a preliminary injunction seeking to enjoin closing of the Merger, which, by agreement, was heard by the Nevada court with the California plaintiffs invited to participate. On December 26, 2013, the court in the Nevada case denied the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. Following the closing of the Merger, the Nevada plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint, which made essentially the same allegations and sought monetary damages as well as an order rescinding the Merger. The California plaintiffs dismissed their action without prejudice, and sought to intervene in the Nevada action, which was granted. Subsequent to the intervention, the plaintiffs filed a third amended complaint, which made essentially the same allegations as prior complaints and sought monetary damages. On June 20, 2014, VTBH and the Company moved to dismiss the action, but that motion was denied on August 28, 2014. On September 14, 2017, a unanimous en banc panel of the Nevada Supreme Court granted defendants’ petition for writ of mandamus and ordered the trial court to dismiss the complaint but provided a limited basis upon which plaintiffs could seek to amend their complaint. Plaintiffs amended their complaint on December 1, 2017, to assert the same claims in a derivative capacity on behalf of the Company, as a well as in a direct capacity, against VTBH, Stripes Group, LLC, SG VTB Holdings, LLC, and the former members of the Company’s Board of Directors. All defendants moved to dismiss this amended complaint on January 2, 2018, and those motions were denied on March 13, 2018. Defendants petitioned the Nevada Supreme Court to reverse this ruling on April 18, 2018. On June 15, 2018, the Nevada Supreme Court denied defendants’ writ petition without prejudice. The district court subsequently entered a pretrial schedule and set trial for November 2019. On January 18, 2019, the district court certified a class of shareholders of the Company as of January 15, 2014. On October 11, 2019, the parties notified the district court that they had reached a settlement that would resolve the pending action if ultimately approved by the Court. On January 13, 2020, the district court preliminarily approved the settlement between the plaintiffs and all defendants. A final hearing was held on May 18, 2020, wherein the Court approved the settlement and entered final judgment.
On May 22, 2020, PAMTP LLC, which purports to hold the claims of eight shareholders who opted out of the class settlement described above, brought suit against the Company, the Company’s CEO, Juergen Stark, Stripes Group, LLC, SG VTB Holdings, LLC, Kenneth Fox, and former members of the Company’s Board of Directors in Nevada state court. This opt-out action asserts the same direct claims that were asserted by the class of shareholders described above. The defendants filed two motions to dismiss this complaint, which were heard on August 10, 2020. The Court denied those motions by order of August 20, 2020. The case was tried in August 2021 and all defendants, including the Company, prevailed on all counts with final judgment entered in their favor on September 3, 2021. Plaintiff has filed a notice of their intent to appeal the judgment. Defendants have pending motions to obtain their costs and fees in successfully defending against the claims, which were heard in December 2021.
20
Employment Litigation: On April 20, 2017, a former employee filed an action in the Superior Court for the County of San Diego, State of California. The complaint alleges claims including wrongful termination, retaliation, and various other provisions of the California Labor Code. The complaint seeks unspecified economic and non-economic losses, as well as allegedly unpaid wages, unreimbursed business expenses statutory penalties, interest, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. The Company filed a cross-complaint against the former employee on May 25, 2017, for certain activities related to his employment with the Company. The matter was tried between September 24 and October 7, 2021. On October 8, 2021, a jury rendered a unanimous verdict in favor of the Company on the employment claims. The Court granted a directed verdict to the Company on its Cross Complaint against the former employee. Judgment was entered in favor of the Company on October 27, 2021. On December 20, 2021, the former employee filed a notice of appeal of the judgment.
Settlement of Disputes : On May 5, 2020, Jöllenbeck GmbH and First Wise Media GmbH, two of our distributors and affiliates of the sellers of the ROCCAT business, filed for insolvency in Germany. On June 30, 2020, the Company entered into a Settlement Agreement with those companies and the sellers of the ROCCAT business pursuant to which, among other things, the Company received a payment for certain outstanding claims and accounts receivable. On July 1, 2020, the insolvency proceedings for the two companies formally commenced. The Company has filed a claim in those proceedings for approximately €130,000 with respect to the remaining outstanding accounts receivable.
Intellectual Property dispute: On November 24, 2020, ABP Technology Limited (ABP) issued a claim for trademark infringement in the High Court of England and Wales against Voyetra Turtle Beach, Inc. (“VTB”) and Turtle Beach Europe Limited (“TBEU”) relating to the use by VTB and TBEU of the sign STEALTH on and in relation to gaming headsets in the UK. VTB and TBEU filed and served a Defense to the claim on February 2, 2021. On March 31, 2021, ABP filed an application for summary judgement. The summary judgment application was heard by the Court in November 2021 and was dismissed. VTB and TBEU were granted permission by the Court to amend their Defense to include a counterclaim against ABP for trademark infringement. In January 2022, ABP was granted leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal in respect of the decision to allow VTB and TBEU to amend their Defense. The appeal is due to be heard before April 13, 2022. The next stage in the main proceedings will be a Case Management Conference (date to be set) at which the Court will give directions for each stage to trial. The trial is expected to be set for late 2022/early 2023.
The Company will continue to vigorously defend itself in the foregoing matters. However, litigation and investigations are inherently uncertain. Accordingly, the Company cannot predict the outcome of these matters. The Company has not recorded any accrual at December 31, 2021 for contingent losses associated with these matters based on its belief that losses, while possible, are not probable. Further, any possible range of loss cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. The unfavorable resolution of these matters could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows. The Company is engaged in other legal actions, not described above, arising in the ordinary course of its business and, while there can be no assurance, believes that the ultimate outcome of these other legal actions will not have a material adverse effect on its business, results of operations, financial condition, or cash flows.
Item 4 - Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
21
PART II