Lawsuit may set priority: Veterans or the disabled?

A lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims pits contracts for veterans under “Vets First” against contracts employing disabled people under the AbilityOne program.

The dispute is over which group should have top priority in VA contracts to provide eyeglasses to veterans, but the court’s decision likely would apply to a much broader group of contracts for VA products and services.

The company that filed the lawsuit is PDS Consultants Inc., a small optical products firm. It is owned by a service-disabled veteran, according to the VA. The company says the VA should have given veteran-owned companies top priority in its eyeglasses awards.

Defending its contracts in the case is nonprofit Industries for the Blind Inc. of Winston-Salem, NC, which provides eyeglasses to the VA. Also a defendant is AbilityOne, which oversees nonprofits employing disabled people.

PDS cited the Supreme Court’s Kingdomware decision from June in its argument. The court said the VA must apply the Rule of Two to small firms owned by service-disabled veterans and other veterans under a 2006 law. The VA Rule of Two requires that if at least two veteran-owned small vendors can do the work at a reasonable price then the VA must set it aside for award to a veteran-owned company.

Industries for the Blind says that a 1938 law giving disabled people priority in federal contracts takes precedence.

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Lawsuit may set priority: Veterans or the disabled?

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