Legal Proceedings
The Company is involved, from time to time, in litigation and other legal proceedings incidental to its business. Management believes that the outcome of current litigation and legal proceedings will not have a material adverse effect upon the Company's results of operations or financial condition. However, management's assessment of the Company's current litigation and other legal proceedings could change in light of the discovery of facts with respect to legal actions or other proceedings pending against the Company not presently known to the Company or determinations by judges, juries or other finders of fact which are not in accord with management's evaluation of the possible liability or outcome of such litigation or proceedings.

On March 30, 2005, the United States District Court for the Northern District of California entered into a Final Judgment approving the settlement agreement the Company entered into in July 2003 with the plaintiffs, the other Manufacturer Defendants (as defined below) and the Department Store Defendants (as defined below) in a consolidated class action lawsuit that had been pending in the Superior Court of the State of California in Marin County since 1998. On April 29, 2005, notices of appeal were filed by representatives of two members of the purported class of consumers. One of those appeals has since been withdrawn. If the appeal is resolved satisfactorily, the Final Judgment will result in the plaintiffs' claims being dismissed, with prejudice, in their entirety in both the Federal and California actions. There has been no finding or admission of any wrongdoing by the Company in this lawsuit. The Company entered into the settlement agreement solely to avoid protracted and costly litigation. In connection with the settlement agreement, the defendants, including the Company, will provide consumers with certain free products and pay the plaintiffs' attorneys' fees. To meet its obligations under the settlement, the Company took a special pre-tax charge of $22.0 million, or $13.5 million after-tax, equal to $.06 per diluted common share in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2003. At June 30, 2007, the remaining accrual balance was $16.3 million. The charge did not have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial condition. In the Federal action, the plaintiffs, purporting to represent a class of all U.S. residents who purchased prestige cosmetics products at retail for personal use from eight department stores groups that sold such products in the United States (the "Department Store Defendants"), alleged that the Department Store Defendants, the Company and eight other manufacturers of cosmetics (the "Manufacturer Defendants") conspired to fix and maintain retail prices and to limit the supply of prestige cosmetics products sold by the Department Store Defendants in violation of state and Federal laws. The plaintiffs sought, among other things, treble damages, equitable relief, attorneys' fees, interest and costs.

In 1999, the Office of the Attorney General of the State of New York (the "State") notified the Company and ten other entities that they had been identified as potentially responsible parties ("PRPs") with respect to the Blydenburgh landfill in Islip, New York. Each PRP may be jointly and severally liable for the costs of investigation and cleanup, which the State estimated in 2006 to be approximately $19.7 million for all PRPs. In 2001, the State sued other PRPs (including Hickey's Carting, Inc., Dennis C. Hickey and Maria Hickey, collectively the "Hickey Parties"), in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York to recover such costs in connection with the site, and in September 2002, the Hickey Parties brought contribution actions against the Company and other Blydenburgh PRPs. These contribution actions seek to recover, among other things, any damages for which the Hickey Parties are found liable in the State's lawsuit against them, and related costs and expenses, including attorneys' fees. In June 2004, the State added the Company and other PRPs as defendants in its pending case against the Hickey Parties. In April 2006, the Company and other defendants added numerous other parties to the case as third-party defendants. The Company and certain other PRPs have engaged in settlement discussions which to date have been unsuccessful. Settlement negotiations with the new third-party defendants, the State, the Company and other defendants began in July 2006. The Company has accrued an amount which it believes would be necessary to resolve its share of this matter. If settlement discussions are not successful, the Company intends to vigorously defend the pending claims. While no assurance can be given as to the ultimate outcome, management believes that the resolution of the Blydenburgh matters will not have a material adverse effect on the Company's consolidated financial condition.

On March 30, 2006, a purported securities class action complaint captioned Thomas S. Shin, et al. v. The Estée Lauder Companies Inc., et al., was filed against the Company and certain of its officers and directors (collectively the "Defendants") in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleged that the Defendants made statements during the period April 28, 2005 to October 25, 2005 in press releases, the Company's public filings and during conference calls with analysts that were materially false and misleading and that artificially inflated the price of the Company's stock. The complaint alleged claims under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The complaint also asserted that during the class period, certain executive officers and the trust for the benefit of a director sold shares of the Company's Class A Common Stock at artificially inflated prices. Three additional purported securities class action complaints were subsequently filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York containing similar allegations. On July 10, 2006, the Court consolidated these actions under the caption In re: Estée Lauder Companies Securities Litigation, appointed lead plaintiff, and approved the selection of lead counsel. A consolidated amended complaint addressing the same issues as the original complaint was filed on September 8, 2006. The Defendants filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint on November 7, 2006. On May 21, 2007, the Court granted the motion to dismiss and gave plaintiff until June 4, 2007 to file an amended complaint. The plaintiff did not file an amended complaint by the deadline.

On April 10, 2006, a shareholder derivative action complaint captioned Miriam Loveman v. Leonard A. Lauder, et al., was filed against certain of the Company's officers and all of its directors as of that date (collectively the "Derivative Action Defendants") in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. The complaint alleged that the Derivative Action Defendants breached their fiduciary duties to the Company based on the same alleged course of conduct identified in the complaint described above. On May 2, 2007, the judge granted the Derivative Action Defendants' motion to dismiss because the plaintiff failed to satisfy the requirement under Delaware law that she make a demand on the Board of Directors to pursue litigation on behalf of the Company prior to initiating the litigation herself. The plaintiff has not taken any further action with respect to this matter.

top of page	< back | next >