Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

13K characters. Original on sec.gov · Markdown

Item 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

Hatamian Securities Litigation

On January 15, 2014, a class action lawsuit captioned Hatamian v. AMD, et al., C.A. No. 3:14-cv-00226 (the Hatamian Lawsuit) was filed against us in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against us and certain individual officers for alleged violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act), and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. The plaintiffs seek to represent a proposed class of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired our common stock during the period April 4, 2011 through October 18,

The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by us and the individual officers regarding our 32nm technology and “Llano” product, which statements and omissions, the plaintiffs claim, allegedly operated to artificially inflate the price paid for our common stock during the period. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs. On July 7, 2014, we filed a motion to dismiss plaintiffs’ claims. On March 31, 2015, the Court denied the motion to dismiss. On May 14, 2015, we filed our answer to plaintiffs’ corrected amended complaint. On September 4, 2015, plaintiffs filed their motion for class certification, and on March 16, 2016, the Court granted plaintiffs’ motion. A court-ordered mediation held in January 2016 did not result in a settlement of the lawsuit. The discovery process was concluded. The plaintiffs and defendants filed cross-motions for summary judgment, and briefing on those motions was completed in July 2017. On October 9, 2017, the parties signed a definitive settlement agreement resolving this matter and submitted it to the Court for approval. Under the terms of this agreement, the settlement will be funded entirely by certain of AMD’s insurance carriers and the defendants will continue to deny any liability or wrongdoing. The final settlement hearing is scheduled for February 27, 2018.

Based upon information presently known to management, we believe that the potential liability, if any, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.

Shareholder Derivative Lawsuits

On March 20, 2014, a purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Wessels v. Read, et al., Case No. 1:14 cv-262486 (Wessels) was filed against us (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of our directors and officers in the Santa Clara County Superior Court of the State of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against us and certain individual directors and officers for breach of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets and unjust enrichment. The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by us and the individual directors and officers regarding our 32nm technology and “Llano” product, which statements and omissions, the plaintiffs claim, allegedly operated to artificially inflate the price paid for our common stock during the period. On April 27, 2015, a similar purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Christopher Hamilton and David Hamilton v. Barnes, et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-01890 (Hamilton) was filed against us (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of our directors and officers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The case was transferred to the judge handling the Hatamian Lawsuit and is now Case No. 4:15-cv-01890.

On September 29, 2015, a similar purported shareholder derivative lawsuit captioned Jake Ha v Caldwell, et al., Case No. 3:15-cv-04485 (Ha) was filed against us (as a nominal defendant only) and certain of our directors and officers in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The lawsuit also seeks a court order voiding the stockholder vote on our 2015 proxy. The case was transferred to the judge handling the Hatamian Lawsuit and is now Case No. 4:15-cv-04485. The Wessels, Hamilton, and Ha shareholder derivative lawsuits were stayed pending resolution of the Hatamian Lawsuit. On January 30, 2018, the Wessels and Hamilton plaintiffs amended their complaints. On February 2, 2018, the Ha plaintiff filed his amended complaint. On February 22, 2018, we filed motions to dismiss the Hamilton and Ha plaintiffs' amended complaints.

Dickey Litigation

On October 26, 2015, a putative class action complaint captioned Dickey et al. v. AMD, No. 15-cv-04922 was filed against us in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs allege that we misled consumers by using the term "eight cores" in connection with the marketing of certain AMD FX CPUs that are based on our “Bulldozer” core architecture. The plaintiffs allege these products cannot perform eight calculations simultaneously, without restriction. The plaintiffs seek to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly were deceived into purchasing certain Bulldozer-based CPUs that were marketed as containing eight cores. The plaintiffs also seek attorneys' fees. On December 21, 2015, we filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, which was granted on April 7, 2016. The plaintiffs then filed an amended complaint with a narrowed putative class definition, which the Court dismissed upon our motion on October 31, 2016. The plaintiffs subsequently filed a second amended complaint, and we filed a motion to dismiss the second amended complaint. On June 14, 2017, the Court issued an order granting in part and denying in part our motion to dismiss, and allowing the plaintiffs to move forward with a portion of their complaint. Discovery is underway. The putative class definition does not encompass our Ryzen™ or EPYC™ processors.

Kim Securities Litigation

On January 16, 2018, a putative class action lawsuit captioned Kim et al. v. AMD, et al., Case No. 3:18-cv-00321 was filed against us in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The complaint purports to assert claims against us and certain individual officers for alleged violations of Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act , and Rule 10b-5 of the Exchange Act. The plaintiff seeks to represent a proposed class of all persons who purchased or otherwise acquired our common stock during the period February 21, 2017 through January 11, 2018. The complaint seeks damages allegedly caused by alleged materially misleading statements and/or material omissions by us and the individual officers regarding a security vulnerability (Spectre), which statements and omissions, the plaintiff claims, allegedly caused our common stock price to be artificially inflated during the purported class period. The complaint seeks unspecified compensatory damages, attorneys’ fees and costs.

Hauck Litigation

On January 19, 2018, a putative class action complaint captioned Diana Hauck et al. v. AMD, Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-0047 was filed against us in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff alleges that we misled consumers in connection with the marketing of AMD processors. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that AMD’s processors cannot perform at their advertised processing speeds without exposing consumers to the Spectre security vulnerability. The plaintiff seeks to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly were misled into purchasing or leasing AMD processors (and devices containing AMD processors), as well as attorneys’ fees, punitive damages, and restitution.

Speck Litigation

On February 4, 2018, a putative class action complaint captioned Brian Speck et al. v. AMD, Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-0744 was filed against us in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiff alleges that we misled consumers in connection with the design and marketing of AMD processors. Specifically, the plaintiff alleges that AMD's processors are subject to the Spectre security vulnerability, and that any "patches" to remedy this security vulnerability will result in degradation of processor performance. The plaintiff seeks to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers and a subclass of Ohio residents who allegedly were misled into purchasing AMD processors (and devices containing AMD processors), as well as attorneys' fees, equitable relief, and restitution.

Barnes and Caskey-Medina Litigation

On February 9, 2018, a putative class action complaint captioned Nathan Barnes and Jonathan Caskey-Medina, et al. v. AMD, Inc., Case No. 5:18-cv-00883, was filed against us in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. The plaintiffs allege that we misled consumers in connection with the marketing of AMD processors. Specifically, the plaintiffs allege that AMD touted the speed and reliability of its processors even though these processors are subject to the Spectre security vulnerability. The plaintiffs seek to obtain damages under several causes of action for a nationwide class of consumers who allegedly were misled into purchasing or leasing AMD processors (and devices containing AMD processors), as well as attorneys' fees, equitable relief, and restitution.

Environmental Matters

We are named as a responsible party on Superfund clean-up orders for three sites in Sunnyvale, California that are on the National Priorities List. Since 1981, we have discovered hazardous material releases to the groundwater from former underground tanks and proceeded to investigate and conduct remediation at these three sites. The chemicals released into the groundwater were commonly used in the semiconductor industry in the United States in the wafer fabrication process prior to 1979.

In 1991, we received Final Site Clean-up Requirements Orders from the California Regional Water Quality Control Board relating to the three sites. We have entered into settlement agreements with other responsible parties on two of the orders. During the term of such agreements, other parties have agreed to assume most of the foreseeable costs as well as the primary role in conducting remediation activities under the orders. We remain responsible for additional costs beyond the scope of the agreements as well as all remaining costs in the event that the other parties do not fulfill their obligations under the settlement agreements.

To address anticipated future remediation costs under the orders, we have computed and recorded an estimated environmental liability of approximately $3 million and have not recorded any potential insurance recoveries in determining the estimated costs of the cleanup. Costs could also increase as a result of additional test and remediation obligations imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency or California Regional Water Quality Control Board. The progress of future remediation efforts cannot be predicted with certainty and these costs may change. We believe that the potential liability, if any, in excess of amounts already accrued, will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.

Other Matters

We are a defendant or plaintiff in various actions that arose in the normal course of business. With respect to these matters, based on our management’s current knowledge, we believe that the amount or range of reasonably possible loss, if any, will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Previous: Item 2. PROPERTIES · Next: Item 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES