Jameson
Jameson v. Pac. Gas & Elec. Co.
Opinion
lead Opinion
Siggins, J.
*903 Steve Jameson sued pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for wrongful termination and breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing. He alleged PG&E fired him in violation of an implied-in-fact employment contract not to terminate his employment without good cause. PG&E moved for summary judgment on the grounds that Jameson was an at-will employee and, alternatively, that PG&E had good cause to terminate him. The trial court granted PG&E summary judgment on the basis that Jameson failed to demonstrate the existence of a triable issue of material fact as to the existence of an implied employment contract. We affirm because, regardless of whether Jameson was an at-will employee, PG&E established it had good cause to terminate him.
BACKGROUND
I. Paul Nelson Reports Retaliation
Jameson worked for PG&E for less than a year starting in 1977, then returned to PG&E seven years later in 1985. Between 1986 and 2012 he rose in the ranks from apprentice welder to construction specialist/manager. In April 2012 he was promoted to Regional Construction Manager.
In 2012 Paul Nelson, a PG&E employee who supervised hydrostatic testing of gas transmission pipes, began testing…