Note 11. Employee Severance, Litigation and Other
The following table illustrates the charges incurred by the Company relating to employee severance, litigation and other for the three fiscal years ended September 30, 2013 (in thousands):
| 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | |||||||
| Employee severance | $ | 491 | $ | 33,040 | $ | 4,382 | |||
| Litigation costs | - | - | 16,000 | ||||||
| Deal-related transaction costs | 22,976 | 11,100 | 3,185 | ||||||
| Total employee severance, litigation and other | $ | 23,467 | $ | 44,140 | $ | 23,567 | |||
During fiscal 2011, the Company introduced its Energiz program, which encompassed a combination of initiatives, to maximize salesforce productivity, improve customer contractual compliance, and drive efficiency by linking the Company's information technology capabilities more effectively with its operations. In connection with the Energiz program, which the Company completed as of September 30, 2011, the Company terminated 103 employees and incurred $4.4 million of severance costs. Additionally, in fiscal 2011, the Company accrued $16.0 million related to a preliminary settlement agreement with respect to a qui tam litigation matter.
During fiscal 2012, the Company introduced a number of initiatives, some of which were made possible as a result of efficiencies gained through the implementation of the Company's enterprise resource planning system, to improve its operating efficiency across many of its businesses and certain administrative functions. In connection with these initiatives, the Company recorded $33.0 million of employee severance and other related costs in fiscal 2012. Other costs included an estimated $10.3 million liability to exit the Company's participation in a multi-employer pension plan resulting from a distribution facility closure in fiscal 2013. Through September 30, 2013, a total of 314 employees were severed relating to the fiscal 2012 initiatives.
During fiscal 2013, the Company incurred $23.0 million of deal-related transaction costs (primarily related to professional fees with respect to the Walgreens and Alliance Boots transaction) and $0.5 million of employee severance and other related costs. During fiscal 2012, the Company incurred $11.1 million of deal-related transaction costs in connection with business combinations.
Employees receive their severance benefits over a period of time, generally not in excess of 12 months, or in the form of a lump-sum payment.
The following table displays the activity recorded within accrued expenses and other from September 30, 2011 to September 30, 2013 related to the matters discussed above (in thousands):
| Employee | Litigation and | |||||||
| Severance | Other | Total | ||||||
| Balance as of September 30, 2011 | $ 3,610 | $ 20,290 | $ 23,900 | |||||
| Expense recorded during the period | 33,040 | 11,100 | 44,140 | |||||
| Payments made during the period | (5,668) | (13,537) | (19,205) | |||||
| Balance as of September 30, 2012 | 30,982 | 17,853 | 48,835 | |||||
| Expense recorded during the period | 491 | 22,976 | 23,467 | |||||
| Payments made during the period | (15,671) | (39,597) | (55,268) | |||||
| Balance as of September 30, 2013 | $ 15,802 | $ 1,232 | $ 17,034 | |||||