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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, DC 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report: January 24, 1997
THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Ohio 0-1402 34-0359955
(State of incorporation) (Commission File Number) (I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
22801 St. Clair Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44117
(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(216) 481-8100
(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
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THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY
Item 5. Other Events.
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The Company has been named recently as a co-defendant in additional lawsuits in
Superior Court, Los Angeles County, California, all arising from alleged
property damage claimed to result from the Northridge, California earthquake of
January 1994. There are six such actions in total, including the previously
reported case.
The Company has been named as a defendant, but not yet served, along with a
large number of "Doe" defendants, in a class action complaint filed on January
16, 1997, PACIFIC DESIGN CENTER AND AUTOMOBILE CLUB OF CALIFORNIA V. THE LINCOLN
ELECTRIC COMPANY, ET AL. Two building owners, purportedly on behalf of
themselves and other building owners in Los Angeles County, allege that a
certain category of welding electrode manufactured by the Company and other
defendants was defective for use in "moment resisting" steel frame buildings in
seismically sensitive areas. According to the complaint, which was amended on
January 22, 1997, there may be 1500 such buildings, and damages including the
costs of inspection, retrofitting and repair, loss of income and diminution in
value of the buildings exceed $1 billion. The plaintiffs also seek punitive
damages in an unspecified amount.
The other four additional cases are not pled as class actions. TCW REALTY FUND
VA HOLDING COMPANY V. TISCHMAN CONSTRUCTION CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA, ET AL.,
initially filed in July, 1995, is a case that alleges breach of warranty and
negligence in the design, supervision and construction of an office/garage
building. The plaintiffs added the Company as a co-defendant in early January
1997. Plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of general, special, consequential,
and incidental damages. The case has been stayed until August 1997 pending
resolution of a dispute between the plaintiffs and their insurers. THE
CALIFORNIA EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT SYSTEM V. THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY, ET AL.,
UNIVERSAL STUDIOS, INC. V. THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY, ET AL. AND U. S.
BANCORP MORTGAGE COMPANY V. THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY, ET AL. are three
substantially similar cases filed on January 16, 1997 (but not yet served on the
Company), alleging that the Company and various defendants manufactured and
marketed welding electrode that was defective given its intended application in
seismic zone building construction. The plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of
compensatory and punitive damages. Each of the three complaints acknowledges
that the producer of the welding electrode which caused plaintiff's injuries has
not yet been identified.
The Company intends to vigorously defend against all these actions.
The Company notes that there has been extensive coverage in the media of
allegations concerning the Company's products in the "St. John's Medical Plaza
v. Dillingham Construction" litigation previously reported in, INTER ALIA, the
Company's periodic reports on Form 10-Q for the periods ended June 30, 1996 and
September 30, 1996. The Company has responded in part to such media coverage;
see its press release of January 6, 1997 filed as an exhibit to the Company's
interim report on Form 8-K dated January 6, 1997. While the Company reserves the
right to respond as it deems appropriate to future developments in existing or
any additional litigation arising out of the Northridge earthquake, the Company
does not anticipate filing any additional reports concerning pending or
additional litigation except as part of its regular periodic reports.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
THE LINCOLN ELECTRIC COMPANY
/s/ H. Jay Elliott
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H. Jay Elliott
Senior Vice President,
Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
January 24, 1997
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