Seattle – A heating and plumbing business headquartered in Boothwyn, Pennsylvania will pay $1.35 million to settle allegations it failed to follow the terms of a contract for servicing fire and life safety systems at seven Veteran’s Affairs (VA) facilities nationwide. Media Plumbing and Heating, dba Kinetix, participates in the VA’s service-disabled veteran owned small business program. Under terms of its contracts with the VA, Media was supposed to hire sub-contractor companies that also qualified as service-disabled veteran owned to service the fire and life safety systems. However, between January 2016 and December 31, 2022, it failed to do so.
“Part of the VA’s mission is to assist veterans with the transition to life after their service. This program helps support service-disabled veterans as they seek to grow their businesses,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. “Media had agreed to find those similarly situated companies across the country to make the program work for other veterans. The failure to do that limited the impact of the program.”
“It is critical that companies who agree to hire service-disabled veteran-owned businesses honor those commitments. Many of our nation’s veterans depend on these contracts for their livelihoods,” said Jason Root, Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General’s Northwest Field Office. “We thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners for their efforts in this case.”
According to the settlement agreement, Media had agreed to find service-disabled veteran owned companies to service the fire and life safety systems at VA facilities in Seattle, Palo Alto, California, Louisville, Kentucky, West Palm Beach, Florida, Oklahoma City, Hines, Illinois, and Bedford, Massachusetts. If the company could not find such subcontractors, it was to do the work itself. Instead, it hired non-compliant subcontractors to do the work.
Of the $1.35 million settlement amount, $592,231 is restitution.
The matter was investigated by the Veteran’s Affairs Office of Inspector General (VA-OIG).
The investigation and settlement were handled Assistant United States Attorney Matt Waldrop for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.