The Complaint

The complaint contains seven allegations.

First allegation - Violation of GO 156

Complainants' first allegation states that:

"...PG&E has abdicated its responsibilities with regard to hiring, selection and renewal of auxiliary vendor contracts to a company that has no direct legal responsibility for compliance with General Order 156."

Complainants then ask if:

"...using the Corestaff subcontracting program as a replacement for PG&E's WMBDVE prime contractor award program violates the spirit, intent, and substance of GO 156 section 6.2?"

Second allegation - Fraud and Deceit

Complainants' second allegation concerns fraud and deceit. Complainants state that CORESTAFF told Hunt that in return for Hunt becoming an approved vendor, Hunt could expect 25 to 50 job orders per month and annual billings of at least $500,000. Based on that promise, Complainants assert they became a sub-vendor to CORESTAFF. Complainants then state that, without explanation from CORESTAFF, complainants did not receive the magnitude of orders promised. Complainants state that they would have never entered into the approval process and passed up other job opportunities if they had known that "PG&E had no intent to honor its agreement" with Complainants.

Complainants state that a CORESTAFF employee told Samuel Anderson³ not to give orders to Hunt. Additionally, Complainants allege that CORESTAFF staff told Anderson not to tell Hunt that he is not getting job orders. Complainants believe that this alleged false communication forms the basis for a claim for deceit.

Third Allegation - Racial Discrimination

Complainants allege that PG&E refused to give job orders to Hunt because of his race. In support of this claim, Complainants allege that an internal CORESTAFF document refers to Hunt as an "angry racist" and that Hunt was referred to as "the devil's own" by CORESTAFF managers. Complainants also believe that Hunt was retaliated against for complaining about racial discrimination in a 1988 complaint case.

Fourth Allegation - Negligence

Complainants state that PG&E was reckless and careless in its supervision of CORESTAFF. The Complainants assert that the PG&E supervisor assigned to oversee CORESTAFF could not say in her deposition whether the percentage goals contained in GO 156 represented a minimum or maximum. The same PG&E supervisor questioned a CORESTAFF employee as to whether job orders were sent to all approved vendors. Further, the same PG&E supervisor directed the CORESTAFF employee to send job orders to all approved vendors. However, Complainants believe that the PG&E should have done more to verify complaints filed by Anderson.

In addition, Complainants allege that CORESTAFF and PG&E used numerous different forms to track WMDVBE vendors, and that PG&E is not consistent with regard to who is an approved vendor. Complainants also contend that PG&E did nothing when it first learned about allegations made by Anderson.

Finally, Complainants allege that PG&E may have included in its WMDVBE reports contracts with Pinnacle Staffing, a company that is allegedly controlled by CORESTAFF and thus not a WMDVBE.

Fifth Allegation - Conspiracy

Complainants assert that a scheme existed between CORESTAFF and PG&E to deny job orders to approved vendors and to keep the job orders for CORESTAFF. The factual basis of Complainants' allegation is that meetings were held on December 18, 1998 and on January 11 and 26, 1999, regarding mark up information for bidding jobs.

Also, Complainants rely upon an e-mail stating that it is important that a vendor certify as WMDVBE qualified. Complainants also assert that CORESTAFF Technology Group was getting "first crack" at technical orders.

Sixth Allegation - Theft of Employees

Complainants allege theft of employees. The factual basis of the allegation is that CORESTAFF's predecessor, Roberta Enterprises, placed transitioning workers onto its payroll. Complainants asks if this is the level playing field envisioned by GO 156.

Seventh Allegation - Safe Harbor

Complainants' seventh allegation is unclear. Complainants refer to an organization or program named "Safe Harbor" and allege that Complainants apparently lost workers to Safe Harbor. Complainants allege that Safe Harbor is a CORESTAFF-controlled company.