FJWW has extensive experience representing individuals seeking benefits under the PG&E Company Retirement Plan, in particular individuals who worked for PG&E but were misclassified as contract workers in the 1980s and 1990s, and thus were denied pension service credits for these years. These individuals met the common law definition of an “employee,” which focuses on the alleged employer’s right to control the manner and means by which work is accomplished. Attorneys at FJWW’s predecessor firm represented the plaintiffs in the landmark case of Burrey v. Pacific Gas & Electric Company, 159 F.3d 388 (9th Cir. 1998), in which the Ninth Circuit determined that an individual who was misclassified by PG&E as a contractor but was actually a PG&E employee under the standard used in the Internal Revenue Code would be eligible for service credits under the PG&E Company Retirement Plan.
Attorneys at FJWW have since represented a number of individuals seeking service credits for time spent working at PG&E while they were misclassified as contract workers, in particular individuals who worked at its Diablo Canyon Power Plant. In Sizemore v. Pacific Gas & Electric Retirement Plan, 952 F. Supp. 2d 894 (N.D. Cal. 2013), Dan Feinberg of FJWW represented a Diablo Canyon Power Plant worker who sought additional pension service credit for the time he was classified as a contractor. That matter subsequently settled on confidential terms. In Cooper v. Pacific Gas & Electric Company Retirement Plan, No. 16-6355 (N.D. Cal.), Dan Feinberg and Darin Ranahan of FJWW represented three individuals who were misclassified as non-employees by PG&E in the 1980s and 1990s when they actually were common law employees. For example, one individual worked in the Diablo Canyon Power Plant drafting department where he was effectively a PG&E employee in all but name, having Bechtel and Waltek as his employers of record. Another individual worked in Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s maintenance engineering and piping departments alongside PG&E employees, but was technically considered to be an employee of SUN.
*FJWW continues to investigate individuals’ rights to service credits in the PG&E pension plan for years in which they were misclassified as contract workers. If you believe that you may be owed service credits for time spent working for PG&E as a misclassified employee, please fill out our contact form here or call (510) 269-7998, ext. 7.