Commitments and Contingencies |
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| Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Commitments
The Company has entered into agreements with suppliers that contain minimum purchase obligations and agreements to purchase capital equipment. Aggregate future minimum payments under these obligations in effect at March 31, 2022 were approximately $2.8 million.
Letters of Credit
The Company has various letters of credit that were issued under the Company’s revolving credit agreement which is collateralized by substantially all of the assets of the Company. The letters of credit are categorized below (in thousands):
Insurance
The Company has insurance coverage for physical partial loss to its assets, employer’s liability, automobile liability, commercial general liability, workers’ compensation and insurance for other specific risks. The Company has also elected in some cases to accept a greater amount of risk through increased deductibles on certain insurance policies. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the workers’ compensation and automobile liability policies require a deductible
per occurrence of up to $0.3 million and $0.1 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the workers’ compensation and auto liability policies contained an aggregate stop loss of $5.4 million. The Company establishes liabilities for the unpaid deductible portion of claims incurred based on estimates. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, accrued claims were $1.2 million and $1.4 million, respectively.
The Company also has insurance coverage for directors and officers liability. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the directors and officers liability policy had a deductible per occurrence of $1.0 million and an aggregate deductible of $10.0 million. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, the Company did not have any accrued claims for directors and officers liability.
The Company also self-insures its employee health insurance. The Company has coverage on its self-insurance program in the form of a stop loss of $0.2 million per participant and an aggregate stop-loss of $5.8 million for the calendar year ending December 31, 2021. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, accrued claims were $1.2 million and $1.6 million, respectively. These estimates may change in the near term as actual claims continue to develop.
Warranty Guarantees
Pursuant to certain customer contracts in our infrastructure services segment, the Company warrants equipment and labor performed under the contracts for a specified period following substantial completion of the work. Generally, the warranty is for one year or less. No liabilities were accrued as of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 and no expense was recognized during the three months ended March 31, 2022 or 2021 related to warranty claims. However, if warranty claims occur, the Company could be required to repair or replace warrantied items, which in most cases are covered by warranties extended from the manufacturer of the equipment. In the event the manufacturer of equipment failed to perform on a warranty obligation or denied a warranty claim made by the Company, the Company could be required to pay for the cost of the repair or replacement.
Bonds
In the ordinary course of business, the Company is required to provide bid bonds to certain customers in the infrastructure services segment as part of the bidding process. These bonds provide a guarantee to the customer that the Company, if awarded the project, will perform under the terms of the contract. Bid bonds are typically provided for a percentage of the total contract value. Additionally, the Company may be required to provide performance and payment bonds for contractual commitments related to projects in process. These bonds provide a guarantee to the customer that the Company will perform under the terms of a contract and that the Company will pay subcontractors and vendors. If the Company fails to perform under a contract or to pay subcontractors and vendors, the customer may demand that the surety make payments or provide services under the bond. The Company must reimburse the surety for expenses or outlays it incurs. As of December 31, 2021, outstanding bid bonds totaled $0.6 million. There were no outstanding bid bonds as of March 31, 2022. As of March 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021, outstanding performance and payment bonds totaled $13.8 million and $20.3 million, respectively. The estimated cost to complete projects secured by the performance and payment bonds totaled $7.7 million as of March 31, 2022.
Litigation
As of March 31, 2022, PREPA owed the Company approximately $227.0 million for services performed, excluding $120.7 million of interest charged on these delinquent balances as of March 31, 2022. The Company believes these receivables are collectible. PREPA, however, is currently subject to bankruptcy proceedings, which were filed in July 2017 and are currently pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. As a result, PREPA’s ability to meet its payment obligations is largely dependent upon funding from FEMA or other sources. On September 30, 2019, Cobra filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico seeking recovery of the amounts owed to Cobra by PREPA, which motion was stayed by the Court. On March 25, 2020, Cobra filed an urgent motion to modify the stay order and allow the recovery of approximately $61.7 million in claims related to a tax gross-up provision contained in the emergency master service agreement, as amended, that was entered into with PREPA on October 19, 2017. This emergency motion was denied on June 3, 2020 and the Court extended the stay of our motion. On December 9, 2020, the Court again extended the stay of our motion and directed PREPA to file a status motion by June 7, 2021. On April 6, 2021, Cobra filed a motion to lift the stay order. Following this filing, PREPA initiated discussion, which resulted in PREPA and Cobra filing a joint motion to adjourn all deadlines relative to the April 6, 2021 motion until the June 16, 2021 omnibus hearing as a result of PREPA’s understanding that FEMA would release a report in the near future relating to the emergency master service agreement between PREPA and Cobra that was executed on October 19, 2017. The joint motion was granted by the Court on April 14, 2021. On May 26, 2021, FEMA issued a Determination Memorandum related to the first contract between Cobra and PREPA in which, among other things, FEMA raised two contract
compliance issues and, as a result, concluded that approximately $47 million in costs were not authorized costs under the contract. On June 14, 2021, the Court issued an order adjourning Cobra’s motion to lift the stay order to a hearing on August 4, 2021 and directing Cobra and PREPA to meet and confer in good faith concerning, among other things, (i) the May 26, 2021 Determination Memorandum issued by FEMA and (ii) whether and when a second determination memorandum is expected. The parties were further directed to file an additional status report, which was filed on July 20, 2021. On July 23, 2021, with the aid of Mammoth, PREPA filed an appeal of the entire $47 million that FEMA de-obligated in the May 26, 2021 Determination Memorandum. On August 4, 2021, the Court extended the stay and directed that an additional status report be filed, which was done on January 22, 2022. On January 26, 2022, the Court extended the stay and directed the parties to file a further status report by July 25, 2022. In the event PREPA (i) does not have or does not obtain the funds necessary to satisfy its obligations to Cobra under the contracts, (ii) obtains the necessary funds but refuses to pay the amounts owed to the Company or (iii) otherwise does not pay amounts owed to the Company for services performed, the receivable may not be collectible.
On December 28, 2019, Gulfport filed a lawsuit against Stingray Pressure Pumping in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware. Pursuant to the complaint, Gulfport seeks to terminate the October 1, 2014, Amended and Restated Master Services Agreement for Pressure Pumping Services between Gulfport and Stingray Pressure Pumping (“MSA”). In addition, Gulfport alleged breach of contract and sought damages for alleged overpayments and audit costs under the MSA and other fees and expenses associated with this lawsuit. On March 26, 2020, Stingray Pressure Pumping filed a counterclaim against Gulfport seeking to recover unpaid fees and expenses due to Stingray Pressure Pumping under the MSA. In September 2020, Muskie filed a lawsuit against Gulfport to recover delinquent payments due under a natural sand proppant supply contract. These matters were automatically stayed as a result of Gulfport’s bankruptcy filing. On November 13, 2020, Gulfport filed petitions for voluntary relief under chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. Gulfport emerged from bankruptcy on May 17, 2021. As of November 13, 2020, Gulfport owed the Company approximately $46.9 million, which included interest charges of $3.3 million and $1.8 million in attorneys’ fees. FASB ASC 326, Financial Instruments-Credit Losses, requires companies to reflect its current estimate of all expected credit losses. As a result, the Company recorded reserves on its pre-petition receivables due from Gulfport for products and services, interest and attorneys’ fees of $19.4 million, $1.4 million and $1.8 million, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2020. On March 22, 2021, Gulfport listed the Stingray Pressure Pumping and Muskie contracts on its master rejection schedule filed with the bankruptcy court. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company recognized unliquidated damages of approximately $46.4 million and recorded reserves on these unliquidated damages as a reduction to revenue of $27.1 million and to bad debt expense of $3.8 million. Also during the first quarter of 2021, the Company recorded additional reserves on its pre-petition products and services and interest receivables of $6.1 million and $0.5 million, respectively. On September 21, 2021, the Company and Gulfport reached a settlement under which all litigation relating to the Stingray Pressure Pumping contract and the Muskie contract was terminated, Stingray Pressure Pumping released all claims against Gulfport and its subsidiaries with respect to Gulfport’s bankruptcy proceedings, each of the parties released all claims they had against the others with respect to the litigation matters discussed above and Muskie will have an allowed general unsecured claim against Gulfport of $3.1 million. As a result, during the three months ended September 31, 2021, the Company wrote off its remaining receivable related to the Stingray Pressure Pumping claim resulting in bad debt expense and other expense of $31.0 million and $1.3 million, respectively, and recorded additional bad debt expense related to the Muskie claim totaling $0.2 million. During the three months ended March 31, 2022, Muskie received $0.3 million from the Gulfport Distribution Trust. See Note 3.
On January 21, 2020, MasTec Renewables Puerto Rico, LLC (“MasTec”) filed a lawsuit against Mammoth Inc. and Cobra, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Pursuant to its complaint, MasTec asserts claims against the Company and Cobra for violations of the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”), tortious interference and violations Puerto Rico law. MasTec alleged that it sustained injuries to its business and property in an unspecified amount because it lost the opportunity to perform work in connection with rebuilding the energy infrastructure in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria under a services contract with a maximum value of $500 million due to the Company’s and Cobra’s wrongful interference, payment of bribes, and other inducements to a FEMA official. On April 1, 2020, the defendants filed a motion to dismiss the complaint. On October 14, 2020, the court dismissed the RICO claims, and on November 18, 2020, dismissed the claims arising under the Puerto Rico statute and the cause of action for tortious interference with MasTec’s contract (but not its business relations), and dismissed Mammoth Inc. from the litigation. On August 2, 2021, in order to avoid the risks of further litigation, and with no admission of wrongdoing whatsoever, the Company reached an agreement to settle this matter. Under the terms of the agreement, Cobra paid $6.5 million to MasTec on August 2, 2021 and the Company guaranteed payment, by Cobra, of $9.25 million on both August 1, 2022 and December 1, 2022. The agreement bears interest at rates between 6% and 12% and includes an acceleration clause that requires Cobra to pay within ten days all unpaid amounts if Cobra collects $100 million or more of specified receivables. As of March 31, 2022, $19.3 million was included in “accrued expenses
and other current liabilities” in the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated balance sheet related to the settlement.
On May 13, 2021, Foreman Electric Services, Inc. (“Foreman”) filed a petition against Mammoth Inc. and Cobra in the Oklahoma County District Court (Oklahoma State Court). The petition asserted claims against the Company and Cobra under federal RICO statutes and certain state-law causes of action. Foreman alleged that it sustained injuries to its business and property in the amount of $250 million due to the Company’s and Cobra’s wrongful interference, payment of bribes and other inducements to a FEMA official. On May 18, 2021, the Company removed this action to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma and filed a motion to dismiss on July 8, 2021. On July 29, 2021, Foreman voluntarily dismissed the action without prejudice. On December 14, 2021, Foreman re-filed its petition against Mammoth Inc. and Cobra in the Oklahoma Count District Court (Oklahoma State Court). On December 16, 2021, the Company again removed this action to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. Foreman filed a motion to remand this action back to Oklahoma County District Court, which motion is under consideration by the federal court. The Company and Cobra filed a motion to dismiss on January 31, 2022, which is expected to be fully briefed by March 7, 2022. In a related matter, on January 12, 2022, a Derivative Complaint on behalf of nominal defendant Machine Learning Integration, LLC (“MLI”), which alleges it would have served as a sub-contractor to Foreman in Puerto Rico, was filed against the Company and Cobra in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico arising from essentially the same facts as Foreman's action and asserting violations of federal RICO statutes and certain state law claims. MLI alleges it sustained injuries to its business and property in an unspecified amount because the Company’s and Cobra’s wrongful interference, payment of bribes and other inducements to a FEMA official prevented Foreman from obtaining work, and thereby prevented MLI, as Foreman’s subcontractor, from obtaining work. These matters are still in the early stages and at this time, the Company is not able to predict the outcome of these claims or whether they will have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
The Company is routinely involved in state and local tax audits. During 2015, the State of Ohio assessed taxes on the purchase of equipment the Company believes is exempt under state law. The Company appealed the assessment and a hearing was held in 2017. As a result of the hearing, the Company received a decision from the State of Ohio, which the Company appealed. On February 25, 2022, the Company received an unfavorable decision on the appeal. The Company intends to appeal the decision and while it is not able to predict the outcome of the appeal, this matter is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
On June 19, 2018, Wendco of Puerto Rico Inc. filed a putative class action lawsuit in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico styled Wendco of Puerto Rico Inc.; Multisystem Restaurant Inc.; Restaurant Operators Inc.; Apple Caribe, Inc.; on their own behalf and in representation of all businesses that conduct business in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico vs. Mammoth Energy Services Inc.; Cobra Acquisitions LLC; D. Grimm Puerto Rico, LLC, et al. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants caused power outages in Puerto Rico while performing restoration work on Puerto Rico’s electrical network following Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, thereby interrupting commercial activities and causing economic loss. The parties have agreed to a settlement and the case has been dismissed.
Cobra has been served with ten lawsuits from municipalities in Puerto Rico alleging failure to pay construction excise and volume of business taxes. These matters are in various stages in the Court. At this time, the Company is not able to predict the outcome of these matters or whether they will have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
On March 20, 2019, EJ LeJeune, a former employee of ESPADA Logistics and Security Group, LLC and ESPADA Caribbean LLC (together, “ESPADA”) filed a putative collective and class action complaint in LeJeune v. Mammoth Energy Services, Inc. d/b/a Cobra Energy & ESPADA Logistics and Security Group, LLC, Case No. 5:19-cv-00286-JKP-ESC, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. On August 5, 2019, the Court granted the plaintiff’s motion for leave to amend his complaint, dismissing Mammoth Energy Services, Inc. as a defendant, adding Cobra Acquisitions LLC (“Cobra”) as a defendant, and adding ESPADA Caribbean LLC and two officers of ESPADA—James Jorrie and Jennifer Gay Jorrie—as defendants. The amended complaint alleged that the defendants jointly employed the plaintiff and all similarly situated workers and failed to pay them overtime as required by the Fair Labor Standards Act and Puerto Rico law. The complaint also alleged the following violations of Puerto Rico law: illegal deductions from workers’ wages, failure to timely pay all wages owed, failure to pay a required severance when terminating workers without just cause, failure to pay for all hours worked, failure to provide required meal periods, and failure to pay a statutorily required bonus to eligible workers. Mr. LeJeune sought to represent a class of workers allegedly employed by one or more defendants and paid a flat amount for each day worked regardless of how many hours were worked. The
complaint seeks back wages, including overtime wages owed, liquidated damages equal to the overtime wages owed, attorneys’ fees, costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest. On June 16, 2020, Cobra answered Mr. LeJeune’s amended complaint, denying that it employed Mr. LeJeune and the putative class members and denying that they were entitled to relief from Cobra. All other defendants answered the amended complaint. The parties stipulated to conditional certification of a collective action, and on August 14, 2020, the Court ordered that notice be sent to all individuals engaged by ESPADA to provide services to Cobra in Puerto Rico on or after January 21, 2017 who were paid a day-rate. Notice was sent to putative class members on September 15, 2020, and the opt-in period closed on November 14, 2020. The parties informed the Court that that the plaintiff and the ESPADA defendants reached a settlement on November 5, 2021, and subsequently, that a settlement was reached between the plaintiffs and Cobra on December 6, 2021. A stipulation of dismissal as to all parties was filed with the Court and the case was dismissed on January 19, 2022.
On April 16, 2019, Christopher Williams, a former employee of Higher Power Electrical, LLC, filed a putative class and collective action complaint titled Christopher Williams, individually and on behalf of all others similarly situated v. Higher Power Electrical, LLC, Cobra Acquisitions LLC, and Cobra Energy LLC in the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. On June 24, 2019, the complaint was amended to replace Mr. Williams with Matthew Zeisset as the named plaintiff. The plaintiff alleges the defendant failed to pay overtime wages to a class of workers in compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act and Puerto Rico law. On August 21, 2019, upon request of the parties, the Court stayed proceedings in the lawsuit and administratively closed the case pending completion of individual arbitration proceedings initiated by Mr. Zeisset and opt-in plaintiffs. The arbitrations remain pending. Other claimants have subsequently initiated additional individual arbitration proceedings asserting similar claims. All complainants and the respondents have paid the filing fees necessary to initiate the arbitrations. The parties are currently engaged in discovery. The Company believes these claims are without merit and is vigorously defending the arbitrations. However, at this time, the Company is not able to predict the outcomes of these proceedings or whether they will have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
On September 10, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the District of Puerto Rico unsealed an indictment that charged the former president of Cobra Acquisitions LLC with conspiracy, wire fraud, false statements and disaster fraud. Two other individuals were also charged in the indictment. The indictment is focused on the interactions between a former FEMA official and the former president of Cobra. Neither the Company nor any of its subsidiaries were charged in the indictment. The Company is continuing to cooperate with the related investigation. On April 11, 2022, counsel for the former FEMA official and the former president of Cobra notified the Court that they had reached in principle a plea agreement pursuant to Federal of Criminal Procedures 11(c)(1)(C). On April 19, 2022, the two remaining defendants notified the court that a plea agreement had been finalized, although no details of the terms of the plea agreement were provided to the court. On April 29, 2022, the federal judge overseeing the case recused himself from any further consideration of the matter and the case was assigned to a new judge. The federal judge did not provide an explanation for his recusal. The plea hearing has been rescheduled for May 18, 2022. Given the uncertainty inherent in the criminal litigation, it is not possible at this time to determine the potential impacts that the plea agreements could have on the Company. PREPA has stated in Court filings that it may contend the alleged criminal activity affects Cobra’s entitlement to payment under its contracts with PREPA. It is unclear what PREPA’s position will be after the terms of the plea agreements become public. Subsequent to the indictment, the Company received (i) a preservation request letter from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) related to documents relevant to an ongoing investigation it is conducting and (ii) a civil investigative demand (“CID”) from the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”), which requests certain documents and answers to specific interrogatories relevant to an ongoing investigation it is conducting. Both the aforementioned SEC and DOJ investigations are in connection with the issues raised in the criminal matter. Following the resignation of Jonathan Yellen from the Company’s board of directors and the matters raised in the Company’s Form 8-K filed on May 14, 2020, the Company received an expanded preservation request from the SEC. The Company is cooperating with both the SEC and DOJ and is not able to predict the outcome of these investigations or if either will have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
On September 12, 2019, AL Global Services, LLC (“Alpha Lobo”) filed a second amended third-party petition against the Company in an action styled Jim Jorrie v. Craig Charles, Julian Calderas, Jr., and AL Global Services, LLC v. Jim Jorrie v. Cobra Acquisitions LLC v. ESPADA Logistics & Security Group, LLC, ESPADA Caribbean LLC, Arty Straehla, Ken Kinsey, Jennifer Jorrie, and Mammoth Energy Services, Inc., in the 57th Judicial District in Bexar County, Texas. The petition alleges that the Company should be held vicariously liable under alter ego, agency and respondeat superior theories for Alpha Lobo’s alleged claims against Cobra and Arty Straehla for aiding and abetting, knowing participation in and conspiracy to breach fiduciary duty in connection with Cobra’s execution of an agreement with ESPADA Caribbean, LLC for security services related to Cobra’s work in Puerto Rico. The case is currently subject to a statutory stay pending a ruling on the appeal of anti-SLAPP motions to dismiss filed by certain defendants. The Company believes
these claims are without merit and will vigorously defend the action. However, at this time, the Company is not able to predict the outcome of this lawsuit or whether it will have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. Additionally, there is a parallel arbitration proceeding that has been initiated in which certain Defendants are seeking a declaratory judgment regarding Cobra’s rights to terminate the Alpha Lobo contract and enter into a new contract with a third-party. On June 24, 2021, the arbitration panel ruled in favor of Cobra. Subsequently, the trial Court in this action granted Cobra, the Company and Straehla’s motion to compel arbitration. On March 22, 2022, Alpha Lobo filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the Fourth Court of Appeals, San Antonio, Texas, seeking to overturn the order compelling arbitration. The appellate court has not requested a response or ruled on the Mandamus.
The Company is involved in various other legal proceedings in the ordinary course of business. Although the Company cannot predict the outcome of these proceedings, legal matters are subject to inherent uncertainties and there exists the possibility that the ultimate resolution of these matters could have a material impact on the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Defined Contribution Plan The Company sponsors a 401(k) defined contribution plan for the benefit of substantially all employees at their date of hire. The plan allows eligible employees to contribute up to 92% of their annual compensation, not to exceed annual limits established by the federal government. The Company makes discretionary matching contributions of up to 3% of an employee’s compensation and may make additional discretionary contributions for eligible employees. For the three months ended March 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company paid $0.4 million and $0.5 million, respectively, in contributions to the plan.
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