Avis 2015 Annual Report Download - page 41

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
None.
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Our principal executive offices are located at 6 Sylvan Way, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 pursuant to a lease
agreement that expires in 2023. We own a facility in Virginia Beach, Virginia, which serves as a satellite
administrative facility for our car and truck rental operations. We also lease office space in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and
Boston, Massachusetts, pursuant to leases expiring in 2022 and 2023, respectively. These locations primarily
provide operational and administrative services or contact center operations. We also lease office space in
Bracknell, England, Budapest, Hungary and Barcelona, Spain, pursuant to leases expiring in 2027, 2018 and
2019, respectively, for corporate offices, contact center activities and other administrative functions, respectively,
in Europe. Other office locations throughout the world are leased for administrative, regional sales and operations
activities.
We lease or have vehicle rental concessions for our brands at locations throughout the world. Avis operates
approximately 1,500 locations in the Americas and approximately 1,200 locations in our International segment. Of
those locations, approximately 315 in the Americas and approximately 225 in our International segment are at
airports. Budget operates at approximately 1,350 locations in the Americas, of which approximately 260 are at
airports. Budget also operates approximately 600 locations in our International segment, of which approximately
190 are at airports. Payless operates at approximately 80 locations in the Americas, the majority of which are at or
near airports. We believe that our properties are sufficient to meet our present needs and we do not anticipate any
difficulty in securing additional space, as needed, on acceptable terms.
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
The Company is involved in various legal proceedings related to wage and hour and employee classification
claims that involve allegations that we violated the Fair Labor Standards Act and various other state labor laws by
misclassifying certain management employees as exempt from receiving overtime compensation. The relief
sought in these cases varies but most cases typically seek to recover payment for alleged unpaid overtime
compensation and attorneys’ fees and costs. These matters are at various stages in the litigation process and we
intend to vigorously defend against these suits.
In February 2015, the French Competition Authority issued a statement of objections alleging that several car
rental companies, including the Company and two of its European subsidiaries, engaged with (i) twelve
French airports, the majority of which are controlled by public administrative bodies or the French state, violated
competition law through the distribution of company-specific statistics by airports to car rental companies
operating at those airports; and (ii) two other international car rental companies in a concerted practice relating to
train station surcharges. The Company believes that it has valid defenses and intends to vigorously defend
against the allegations, but it is currently unable to predict the outcome of the proceedings or range of reasonably
possible losses, which may be material.
Additionally, in March 2015, the Canadian Competition Bureau filed an application with the Competition Tribunal
alleging that the Company and two of its Canadian subsidiaries engaged in deceptive marketing practices with
regard to certain charges that consumers are invoiced related to renting a vehicle and associated products in
Canada. The application seeks penalties against the Company and its subsidiaries totaling approximately $25
million as well as reimbursements to current and former customers of amounts collected and retained by the
Company related to the alleged deceptive marketing practices. The Company believes that it has valid defenses
and intends to vigorously defend against the allegations, but it is currently unable to predict the outcome of the
proceedings or range of reasonably possible losses, which may be material.
We are involved in other claims, legal proceedings and governmental inquiries related, among other things, to our
vehicle rental and car sharing operations, including, among others, business practice disputes, contract and
licensee disputes, employment and wage-and-hour claims, competition matters, insurance claims, intellectual
property claims and other regulatory, environmental, commercial and tax matters. The Company believes that it
has adequately accrued for such matters as appropriate. However, litigation is inherently unpredictable and,