COUNTYWIDE : Plumber to Pay $30,000 to Settle Suit

A plumbing business has agreed to pay $30,000 in penalties and costs to settle a consumer-protection lawsuit filed against it by the district attorney, officials said Monday.

Without admitting any wrongdoing, George Brazil Plumbing, Heating & Air Conditioning Inc. also agreed to inform consumers that work estimates are subject to change and to properly license and advertise other companies it owns, Deputy Dist. Atty. Gerald G. Johnston said.

The lawsuit was the result of an investigation by the Contractors State License Board, which alleged that the company engaged in false advertising and illegal business practices by making misleading statements about the cost of its work estimates in advertisements in the telephone book’s Yellow Pages and by improperly displaying CSLB license numbers, Johnston said in a prepared statement.

In settling the Superior Court lawsuit, George Brazil Plumbing agreed to pay the county $20,000 in civil penalties and $10,000 in costs, including reimbursement to the CSLB for its investigation, Johnston said.

George Brazil Plumbing and another firm it owns, All American Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning, operate from an office in the 3000 block of N. Hesperian Way.