July 22, 2008

Freakin' Out

Angry Plumbing Company Sues King Broadcasting

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In April, KING 5 reporter Chris Ingalls called out Beacon Plumbing—whose "Stop Freakin', Call Beacon!" ads are ubiquitous on Seattle public transit—for some unsavory business practices. Among them: allegedly using substandard materials and hiring people with "rap sheets for child rape." Now the company is taking the station to court.

On July 7, Beacon Plumbing filed a lawsuit against King Broadcasting, accusing Ingalls and King of inaccurate reporting and defamation. "Not only were some of the things [in KING 5's reports] inaccurate, but they were intentionally included... to be salacious," says Sean Moore, Beacon's attorney.

Stranger Personals

Since mid-April, KING 5 has broadcast at least four investigative reports about Beacon Plumbing's business practices. The reports detailed complaints against the company, alleged that Beacon hired felons and unqualified workers, and described a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries investigation into the company.

In response, Beacon sent out a press release claiming that the company has received complaints from less than 1 percent of its customers. Court documents say Beacon also enlisted the help of attorneys, who met with KING 5 representatives on May 7 and asked them to kill an upcoming story that claimed Beacon has employees convicted of child molestation and rape on its payroll. Moore denies claims that Beacon employs child rapists—and hints that he thinks there may be another reason KING 5 is pursuing Beacon Plumbing.

Moore says his firm is investigating a connection between a former KING 5 producer—now employed by NorthWest Cable News (NWCN), which shares a building with KING 5—and the owner of one of Beacon's competitors, South West Plumbing. The former KING 5 producer, who moved over to NWCN in March, a month before the first Beacon report was broadcast, is the daughter-in-law of South West Plumbing's owner. Moore also says he has "reason to believe there's a connection between the timing of the stories running and a dramatic increase in advertising [by] some of Beacon's competitors."

Ingalls was not available for comment and KING 5 management said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.