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DARDEN RESTAURANTS

Note 16
Employee Stock Purchase Plan
Effective January 1, 1999, the Company adopted the Darden Restaurants Employee Stock Purchase Plan to provide eligible employees who have completed one year of service an opportunity to purchase shares of its common stock, subject to certain limitations. Under the plan, employees may elect to purchase shares at the lower of 85 percent of the fair market value of the Company’s common stock as of the first or last trading days of each quarterly participation period. During 2000 and 1999, employees purchased shares of common stock under the plan totaling 243,000 and 55,000, respectively. An additional 1,157,000 shares are available for issuance as of May 28, 2000.

As the Company applies APB 25 in accounting for its Employee Stock Purchase Plan, no compensation cost has been recognized for shares issued under the plan. The impact of recognizing compensation expense for purchases made under the plan in 2000 in accordance with the fair value method specified in SFAS 123 is not significant to the Company’s financial statement disclosures.

Note 17
Commitments and Contingencies
The Company makes trade commitments in the course of its normal operations. As of May 28, 2000, the Company was contingently liable for approximately $17,175 under outstanding letters of credit issued in connection with purchase commitments. As of May 28, 2000, the Company also has guaranteed approximately $8,558 of third-party sub-lease obligations.

The Company is involved in litigation arising from the normal course of business. In the opinion of management, this litigation is not expected to materially impact the Company’s consolidated financial position, results of operations or cash flows.

Note 18
Subsequent Event
On July 13, 2000, the Company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The purpose of the filing was to register $500 million of debt securities using a shelf registration process. Under this process, the Company may offer, from time to time, up to $500 million of debt securities.

Note 19
Quarterly Data (Unaudited)
Summarized quarterly data for 2000 and 1999 are as follows:

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