(9) Commitments and Contingencies

General Litigation

The Company has contingent liabilities related to legal and tax proceedings and other matters arising in the ordinary course of business. Although it is reasonably possible the Company may incur losses upon conclusion of such matters, an estimate of any loss or range of loss cannot be made. In the opinion of management, it is expected that amounts, if any, which may be required to satisfy such contingencies will not be material in relation to the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements.

Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund, et al. v. GCI Liberty, Inc., et al. In October 2020, a putative class action complaint was filed by two purported GCI Liberty stockholders which named as defendants GCI Liberty, as well as the members of the GCI Liberty board of directors. The complaint alleged, among other things, that Mr. Gregory B. Maffei, a director and the President and Chief Executive Officer of Liberty Broadband and, prior to the Combination, GCI Liberty, and Mr. John C. Malone, the Chairman of the board of directors of Liberty Broadband and, prior to the Combination, GCI Liberty, in their purported capacities as controlling stockholders and directors of GCI Liberty, and the other directors of GCI Liberty,

breached their fiduciary duties by approving the Combination. The complaint also alleged that various prior and current relationships among members of the GCI Liberty special committee, Mr. Malone and Mr. Maffei rendered the members of the GCI Liberty special committee not independent.

During March 2021 and in advance of the expenditure of significant time and costs to conduct the depositions proposed to have been taken in this action, the parties began negotiations with the class of plaintiffs for a potential settlement of this action. On May 5, 2021, the plaintiffs (on behalf of themselves and other members of a proposed settlement class) and defendants entered into an agreement in principle to settle the litigation pursuant to which the parties agreed that the plaintiffs will dismiss their claims with prejudice, with customary releases, in return for a settlement payment of $110 million to be paid by a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Broadband (as successor by merger to GCI Liberty) and/or insurers for the defendants and for GCI Liberty, which was recorded as a litigation settlement expense within operating income in the condensed consolidated statements of operations during the first quarter of 2021. This litigation was subsequently settled and paid in accordance with the agreement settlement during 2021. Liberty Broadband also agreed to final settlement amounts with its insurance carriers in the third quarter of 2021.

Rural Health Care (“RHC”) Program. GCI Holdings received a letter of inquiry and request for information from the Enforcement Bureau (the “Enforcement Bureau”) of the Federal Communications Commission (the "FCC"), in March 2018 relating to the period beginning January 1, 2015 and including all future periods. In the fourth quarter of 2019, GCI Holdings became aware of potential RHC Program compliance issues related to certain of its currently active and expired contracts with certain of its RHC customers. On December 17, 2020, GCI Holdings received a Subpoena Duces Tecum from the FCC’s Office of the Inspector General requiring production of documents from January 1, 2009 to the present related to a single RHC customer and related contracts, information regarding GCI Holdings’ determination of rural rates for a single customer, and to provide information regarding persons with knowledge of pricing practices generally.  With respect to the ongoing inquiries from the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau and the FCC’s Office of the Inspector General, GCI Holdings recognized a liability of approximately $12 million in 2019 for contracts that were deemed probable of not complying with the RHC Program rules. GCI Holdings also identified certain contracts where additional loss was reasonably possible and such loss could range from zero to $44 million. An accrual was not made for the amount of the reasonably possible loss in accordance with the applicable accounting guidance. GCI Holdings could also be assessed fines and penalties but such amounts could not be reasonably estimated.

In 2021, GCI Holdings was informed that a qui tam action has been filed in the Western District of Washington arising from the subject matter under review by the Enforcement Bureau. The Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) is investigating whether GCI Holdings submitted false claims and/or statements in connection with GCI’s participation in the FCC’s RHC Program. Additionally in 2021, the DOJ issued a Civil Investigative Demand with regard to the qui tam action.  With respect to the qui tam action, the DOJ and GCI Holdings held discussions whereby the DOJ clarified that its investigation relates to the years from 2010 through 2019 and alleged that GCI Holdings had submitted false claims under the RHC Program during this time period. GCI Holdings continues to work with the DOJ related to this matter and has recorded a $10 million settlement expense to reflect a settlement offer that GCI Holdings made to the DOJ in June 2022. However, the Company is unable to assess the ultimate outcome of this action and is unable to reasonably estimate any range of additional possible loss beyond the $10 million settlement offer, including any type of fine or penalty that may ultimately be assessed as permitted under the applicable law.