Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

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Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
Commitments and Contingencies  
Commitments and Contingencies

7. Commitments and Contingencies

 

Litigation

 

The Company is involved in various legal proceedings, including the matters described below, in the ordinary course of its business.

 

In March 2009, a state Medicaid agency asserted a claim against MAXIMUS, related to a discontinued business line, in the amount of $2.3 million in connection with a contract MAXIMUS had through February 1, 2009 to provide Medicaid administrative claiming services to school districts in the state. MAXIMUS entered into separate agreements with the school districts under which MAXIMUS helped the districts prepare and submit claims to the state Medicaid agency which, in turn, submitted claims for reimbursement to the federal government. No legal action has been initiated. The state has asserted that its agreement with MAXIMUS requires the Company to reimburse the state for the amounts owed to the federal government. However, the Company’s agreements with the school districts require them to reimburse MAXIMUS for such payments and therefore MAXIMUS believes the school districts are responsible for any amounts disallowed by the state Medicaid agency or the federal government. Accordingly, the Company believes its exposure in this matter is limited to its fees associated with this work and that the school districts will be responsible for the remainder. MAXIMUS has exited the federal healthcare claiming business and no longer provides the services at issue in this matter.

 

In 2008 MAXIMUS sold the SchoolMAX student information system business line as part of the divestiture of the MAXIMUS Education Systems division. In 2011, a school district (“District”) which was a SchoolMAX client initiated the dispute resolution process under their contract. The District raised a number of issues pertaining to services and products delivered under the contract. In April 2012, the District filed a formal arbitration notice alleging that MAXIMUS and the buyer failed to (i) use best practices in developing the software and (ii) deliver and test product releases as required by the contract. The District contended that those failures resulted in damages of at least $10 million. In December 2012, the arbitration panel denied the District’s claims in their entirety. Costs related to the arbitration proceeding have been included in the current period as discontinued operations. The District has filed a motion to vacate the decision of the arbitration panel. In late 2012, the District asserted that MAXIMUS had defrauded the District in 2007 or 2008 by misrepresenting its intentions regarding the sale of the Education Systems division. That allegation was not part of the arbitration, and no formal claim or lawsuit has been filed. The company believes it has a number of defenses to that allegation and would contest it vigorously if it were asserted.

 

Flexible New Deal contract liabilities and contingent gains

 

In August 2009, the Company commenced work for the United Kingdom government as a provider of services under the “Flexible New Deal,” a welfare-to-work initiative. The work was performed in the Company’s Human Services Segment. This initiative was terminated for all contract providers during the 2011 fiscal year and replaced with the “Work Programme,” under which MAXIMUS also performs services. As part of the Flexible New Deal contract, MAXIMUS was entitled to reimbursement for costs incurred as a consequence of early termination, as well as a contract settlement for payments the Company would have received for realizing certain long-term goals under the contract. During the three month period ended December 31, 2011, the Company received a one-time settlement payment of $2.7 million for revenue foregone and $1.7 million of cost recoveries, net of subcontractor expenses.

 

Acquired loss-making contract

 

During the fiscal year 2012, the Company identified a systems-integration contract acquired with PSI that was anticipated to record significant future losses. This obligation was treated as deferred revenue and disclosed in Note 5 of our financial statements for the year ended September 30, 2012. During December 2012, we were informed that our client may choose to terminate the contract for convenience which may result in a one-time, non-cash gain. At this time, no formal termination notice has been issued and no settlement agreement has been entered into. Accordingly, the Company is unable to estimate the benefit it may receive, if any, and continues to record the fair value of the obligation at acquisition, adjusted for subsequent transactions.