Affirmative Defense of Offset Properly Raised Before COFC, Not During Proceedings Before the Contracting Officer; COFC No. 15-348C, Kansas City Power & Light Co. v. The United States

Plantiff’s motion to strike defendant’s affirmative defense of offset is denied, where such a defense is not a claim under the Contract Disputes Act that should have been asserted by the agency in the proceedings before the contracting officer, but a defense argued against a claim, and where additional discovery is needed to establish whether the agency had any liability for an accident that occurred on its premises, and therefore the court could not determine if the agency had committed wrongdoing that would preclude such a defense.