Burrey

Florett Burrey and twelve other plaintiffs brought this action under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) against Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (“PG & E”), several of its employee benefit plans, and the PG & E Employee Benefit Administrative Committee. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of PG & E on all claims. We reverse in part, and affirm in part.

The plaintiffs in this case worked at various times at PG & E’s Marketing Processing Center (“Center”), which serviced PG & E’s energy conservation programs. 1 In 1983, PG & E informed all temporary employees working at the Center, including the plaintiffs, that they would continue to work at the Center as employees of Volt Energy Services, Inc., an employment agency. In January 1988, PG & E terminated its agreement with Volt and awarded a new employment contract to Pacific Coast Clericals (“PCC”). PG & E informed the Center employees, including the plaintiffs, that they would continue working at the Center as PCC employees. The plaintiffs agreed and continued their employment at the Center after the effective date of the PCC employment contract. PCC subsequently changed its name to Stafco…