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On April 22, 2009, Judge John Munter of the San Francisco
Superior Court issued an
Order Granting
Plaintiffs’Motion for Class Certification, in the case of
Taylor, et al v. Pacific Gas and Electric Company, No.
CGC-07-467956. The case seeks compensation and related
remedies for unpaid time spent by PG&E employees accessing
and exiting their work stations inside the perimeter security
gate of the plant, which is approximately 7.5 miles from the
power plant where employees work. Plaintiffs claim this time
must be paid as “hours worked” under California law, due to
the restrictions imposed on employees once they are inside
the security gate, which restrictions are primarily for the
benefit of PG&E.
The case was brought as a proposed class action by four
hourly employees at PG&E’s Diablo Canyon Power Plant on
behalf of all hourly employees who have worked at the Diablo
Canyon plant between October 9, 2007 and entry of judgment.
In the Order noted above, the Court found that more than
1,500 employees are in the class, and that common issues of
law and fact predominate, justifying treatment of Plaintiffs’
claims on a class-wide basis. The Order appoints the four
named Plaintiffs as class representatives, and appoints
Leonard Carder, LLP as Class Counsel. Philip Monrad of the
Leonard Carder Firm is lead Class Counsel.
The Order
directed the parties to meet and confer and to propose on
June 1, 2009 either a joint proposed Order or competing
proposed Orders regarding the procedure for giving Notice of
the pending class action lawsuit to class members, and their
rights and options regarding the suit.
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