11.  OTHER COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

 

Litigation.  During the first quarter of 2017, we recognized a $30 million expense for a legal settlement with Owens Corning in connection with a breach of contract action related to our termination of an insulation supply contract.  Under the terms of the settlement, we paid Owens Corning $30 million.  The settlement resulted in the dismissal of the lawsuit filed in May 2016 in Toledo, Ohio.  The settlement is reflected in the significant legal settlement line item within our Consolidated Statements of Operations for the year ended December 31, 2017.  The settlement is also reflected in our installation segment’s operating results for the year ended December 31, 2017.

We are subject to certain claims, charges, litigation, and other proceedings in the ordinary course of our business, including those arising from or related to contractual matters, intellectual property, personal injury, environmental matters, product liability, product recalls, construction defects, insurance coverage, personnel and employment disputes, antitrust, and other matters, including class actions.  We believe we have adequate defenses in these matters, and we do not believe that the ultimate outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on us.  However, there is no assurance that we will prevail in any of these pending matters, and we could in the future incur judgments, enter into settlements of claims, or revise our expectations regarding the outcome of these matters, which could materially impact our liquidity and our results of operations.

 

Other Matters.  We enter into contracts, which include customary indemnities that are standard for the industries in which we operate.  Such indemnities include, among other things, customer claims against builders for issues relating to our products and workmanship.  In conjunction with divestitures and other transactions, we occasionally provide customary indemnities relating to various items including, among others: the enforceability of trademarks; legal and environmental issues; and asset valuations.  We evaluate the probability that we may incur liabilities under these customary indemnities and appropriately record an estimated liability when deemed probable.

We occasionally use performance bonds to ensure completion of our work on certain larger customer contracts that can span multiple accounting periods.  Performance bonds generally do not have stated expiration dates; rather, we are released from the bonds as the contractual performance is completed.  We also have bonds outstanding for licensing and insurance.  The following table summarizes our outstanding bonds, in thousands:

 

 

Our rental expense was as follows, in thousands:

 

 

Future minimum lease payments at December 31, 2017, were as follows, in thousands: