CPM Files Series of Lawsuits on Behalf of Camp Fire Victims
This is the first case filed that directly challenges PG&E for misleading over 16 million customers that safety is its first priority. Two different complaints filed today in Butte County Superior Court seek to compensate victims and recoup monies spent by the utility giant for misleading advertising expenditures. The first of the cases was filed on behalf of Lila Williams (93 years old) and Louise Howell (67 years old), who while fleeing for her life to escape the intense blaze of the Camp Fire on November 8, 2018, was forced to abandon her car and seek refuge underwater in Lake Concow to stay alive. The second case was filed by Chardonnay Telly, who lost her father, Richard Brown, fondly referred to by friends and neighbors as the “Mayor of Con Cow”.
“The Complaint seeks not only to recover damages for the Plaintiffs, but also to: (1) stop PG&E officers and directors from spending the company’s monopolistic profits and ratepayer assessments on advertising to promote a false and misleading picture of safety surrounding their operations; and (2) recoup all monies spent by PG&E for advertising to promote their false image of safety since September 9, 2010.”
As the Complaint alleges, PG&E diverts “necessary safety related expenditures into funding corporate bonuses, boosting shareholder profits, and fueling advertising campaigns” that are untrue and mislead the public into a false sense of security regarding PG&E’s ability to safely deliver power, all while ignoring the serious and irreparable nature of the public safety threat posed by its aging infrastructure and ineffective vegetation management practices. As a result, “the people of the State of California have paid for corporate greed with the lives of their loved ones, their homes, and their most cherished belongings.”
This diversion of funds and “abdication of responsibility for assessing the effectiveness of their risk management practices to prevent catastrophic wildfires is exacerbated by the fact” that PG&E has long been on notice that its risk management programs are ineffective and that its infrastructure is aging, which has led to several horrible and irreparable fires over the past decade in Northern California and six-felony criminal convictions, for which PG&E is currently on probation, but still “choose[s] to ignore the lessons learned.”
Attorneys at Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy LLP, Dreyer Babich Buccola Wood Campora, LLP, Panish Shea & Boyle LLP, and Walkup, Melodia, Kelly & Schoenberger represent Lila Williams, Louise Howell, and Chardonnay Telly against PG&E Corporation and Pacific Gas & Electric Company.