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Ex-PG&E Worker Claims Utility Misled Regulators To Get Rate Hike Approved

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- A former PG&E manager has filed a lawsuit alleging that he was fired for refusing to participate in the utility's plan to mislead regulators into approving rate increases.

Christopher Surbey filed the lawsuit on Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court.

Surbey alleges that PG&E used information he provided on the need to overhaul a computer system to trick regulators into obtaining a rate increase. He says the utility had no intention to use the increase to upgrade the system, and that he was fired when he protested that decision.

A PG&E spokesman said the lawsuit contains numerous inaccuracies and that Surbey was laid off in 2011 with 200 other IT workers as part of a reorganization of the company.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco and Bay City News Service. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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