SAN FRANCISCO – Three former employees of Pacific Gas & Electric allege they were misclassified during their employment and are owed for unpaid retirement benefits.
Kyle Cooper, Frederick Flint and S. James Quaintance Jr. filed a complaint on Nov. 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Pacific Gas & Electric Retirement Plan and Employee Benefit Committee of the Pacific Gas & Electric Retirement Plan citing the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
According to the complaint, the plaintiffs allege that they seek recognition of their years of employment for the defendants at various times between 1982 and 1999, as such they were misclassified as independent contractors for purposes of falsely calculating their retirement benefits, thereby causing plaintiffs to suffer monetary losses. The plaintiffs hold Pacific Gas & Electric Retirement Plan and Employee Benefit Committee of the Pacific Gas & Electric Retirement Plan responsible because the defendants allegedly rejected and disregarded legal opinions that were contrary to their desired result, misclassified employees to escape payment of plan benefits, denied current and former employees’ claims for service credits for time worked while misclassified as independent contractors.
The plaintiffs request a trial by jury and seek judgment against defendants, award pension service credits, modify plan records, attorneys’ fees, costs of suit and other relief as the court deems just. They are represented by Daniel Feinberg of Feinberg, Jackson, Worthman & Wasow LLP in Oakland.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Case number 16-cv-06355