Washington Post 2007 Annual Report Download - page 48

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Robinson Terminal Warehouse Corporation owns two wharves and several warehouses in Alexandria, VA. These
facilities are adjacent to the business district and occupy approximately 7 acres of land. Robinson also owns two
partially developed tracts of land in Fairfax County, VA, aggregating about 20 acres. These tracts are near The
Washington Post’s Virginia printing plant and include several warehouses. In 1992, Robinson purchased approx-
imately 23 acres of undeveloped land on the Potomac River in Charles County, MD, for the possible construction of
additional warehouse capacity.
The offices of Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive occupy 85,000 square feet of office space in Arlington, VA,
under a lease that will expire in 2015. Express Publications Company subleases part of this space. In addition, WPNI
leases space in Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles and subleases space from Newsweek in New York City for Slate’s
offices in those cities. Furthermore, WPNI also leases office space for WPNI sales representatives in New York City,
Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Greater Washington Publishing’s offices are located in leased space in Vienna, VA, while El Tiempo Latino’s offices are
located in leased space in Arlington, VA.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
Kaplan, Inc., a subsidiary of the Company, is a party to a previously disclosed class action antitrust lawsuit filed on
April 29, 2005, by purchasers of BAR/BRI bar review courses in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California. On February 2, 2007, the parties filed a settlement agreement with the court together with documents
setting forth a procedure for class notice. The court approved the terms of the settlement on July 9, 2007. However,
certain class members filed an appeal to the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and that appeal
remains pending. Effectiveness of the settlement is subject to court approval. On February 6, 2008, Kaplan was
served with a purported class action lawsuit alleging substantially similar claims as the previously settled lawsuit. The
putative class is said to include all persons who purchased a bar review course from BAR/BRI in the United States since
2006 and all potential future purchasers of bar review courses. The case is pending in the U.S. District Court for the
Central District of California. Kaplan intends to vigorously defend this lawsuit. The Company and its subsidiaries are
also defendants in various other civil lawsuits that have arisen in the ordinary course of their businesses, including
actions alleging libel, invasion of privacy, violations of applicable wage and hour laws and claims involving current
and former students at the Company’s schools. While it is not possible to predict the outcome of these lawsuits, in the
opinion of management their ultimate dispositions should not have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business
or financial position.
The Company is aware of several state attorneys general who have opened inquiries or investigations into arrange-
ments between lenders and institutions of higher education. In this regard, subsidiaries of the Company have received
requests for information from the Attorneys General of the states of Arizona, Iowa and Maryland regarding relation-
ships with student loan providers. The Company is also aware of similar requests from members of the U.S. Congress to
at least one lender with regard to its relationship with the Company and its subsidiaries, as well as other institutions of
higher education. The Company believes that these governmental authorities are conducting wide-ranging inquiries of
student lending practices generally and that the Company is not the sole recipient of this type of information request.
The Company’s subsidiaries have responded to these information requests and intend to cooperate fully with these
inquiries.
On or about January 17, 2008, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania contacted Kaplan Higher Education Division’s CHI-Broomall campus and made
inquiries about the Surgical Technology program, including the program’s eligibility for Title IV federal financial aid, the
program’s student loan defaults, licensing and accreditation. The inquiry is presently proceeding on an “informal,
voluntary basis.” Kaplan is responding to the information requests made and intends to cooperate fully with the inquiry.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
Not applicable.
32 THE WASHINGTON POST COMPANY