(a) Dismissal of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
On July 9, 2020, Lakeland Industries, Inc. (the “Company”) dismissed Friedman LLP (“Friedman”), its independent registered public accounting firm. The decision to dismiss Friedman was approved by the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors.
The audit reports of Friedman on the Company’s consolidated financial statements as of and for the fiscal years ended January 31, 2020 and 2019 did not contain an adverse opinion or a disclaimer of opinion, nor were they qualified or modified as to uncertainty, audit scope, or accounting principles. During the two most recent fiscal years ended January 31, 2020 and 2019, and during the subsequent interim period preceding such dismissal, there were no disagreements with Friedman on any matter of accounting principles or practices, financial statement disclosure, or auditing scope or procedure, which disagreements, if not resolved to the satisfaction of Friedman, would have caused it to make reference to the subject matter of the disagreements in connection with its audit reports for such years. In addition, during that time there were no “reportable events” as that term is described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K, except that the report of Friedman on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting of the Company as of January 31, 2020 identified a material weakness in internal control over financial reporting. The report of Friedman indicated that the Company did not design, implement, and consistently operate effective process-level controls over the product costing and valuation process to ensure the appropriate valuation of the inventory on hand at year-end.
The Company has provided Friedman with a copy of the foregoing disclosures and has requested that Friedman furnish the Company with a letter addressed to the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) stating whether or not it agrees with the statements made herein, each as required by SEC rules, and, if not, stating the respects in which it does not agree. A copy of Friedman’s letter to the SEC is filed as Exhibit 16.1 to this Current Report on Form 8-K.
(b) Engagement of New Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
Effective as of July 14, 2020, the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors engaged Deloitte & Touche LLP (“Deloitte”) as the new independent registered public accountants of the Company.
During the two most recent fiscal years and through the interim period preceding the engagement of Deloitte, neither the Company, nor anyone on its behalf, consulted with Deloitte regarding either: (i) the application of accounting principles to a specified transaction, either completed or proposed; or the type of audit opinion that might be rendered on any of the Company’s financial statements, in connection with which either a written report or oral advice was provided to the Company that Deloitte concluded was an important factor considered by the Company in reaching a decision as to the accounting, auditing or financial reporting issue; or (ii) any matter that was either subject of a “disagreement” (as defined in Item 304(a)(1)(iv) of Regulation S-K and the related instructions) or a “reportable event” (as described in Item 304(a)(1)(v) of Regulation S-K).
Item 9.01
Financial Statements and Exhibits.
LAKELAND INDUSTRIES INC Exhibit…
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About Lakeland Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:LAKE)
Lakeland Industries, Inc. (Lakeland) manufactures and sells a line of safety garments and accessories for the industrial and public protective clothing market. The Company’s product categories include limited use/disposable protective clothing; high-end chemical protective suits; firefighting, flame resistant personal protective equipment (FR PPE) and heat protective apparel; reusable woven garments; high visibility clothing, and glove and sleeves. The Company’s products are sold by its in-house customer service group, its regional sales managers and independent sales representatives to a network of over 1,200 North American safety and mill supply distributors. These distributors in turn supply end user industrial customers, such as integrated oil, chemical/petrochemical, utilities, automobile, steel, glass, construction, smelting, munition plants, janitorial, pharmaceutical, mortuaries and high technology electronics manufacturers, as well as scientific and medical laboratories.