A San Diego Gas & Electric Co. employee has filed a claim for damages against the city of El Cajon after the Police Department and a city employee mistakenly identified him in social media posts as a possible prowler.
In reality, SDG&E employee James Moore was in the backyard of city employee Chris Berg on April 17 last year to read the meter, according to the claim filed on his behalf by the law firm Stitt Vu Trial Lawyers.
The claim is seeking unspecified damages for “significant harm” that includes “reputational damage, severe emotional distress, and loss of income.” It also alleges the false accusation about Moore, who is Black, was the result of racism.
The law firm declined to comment on the claim, and Berg and El Cajon City Manager Graham Mitchell also said they could not comment. A Facebook post from Berg, however, gave an explanation for the incident, which he said occurred because of a miscommunication from SDG&E.
According to the claim, Moore was at Berg’s home on assignment from SDG&E when a security camera recorded him in the backyard. After viewing the recording, Berg called SDG&E to ask if the man was an employee of the utility.
“It appears, however, that SDG&E incorrectly informed Mr. Berg that Mr. Moore was not their employee,” the claim reads. “Following this misinformation, Mr. Berg made social media posts falsely claiming that Mr. Moore was a prowler.”
Berg reportedly then provided the video to the El Cajon Police Department, which posted it on Facebook with the text, “This video was sent in yesterday from a residence that borders our city limits. Since the individual in this video could potentially be prowling homes in our city, we felt it important to share with residents!”
The post was not unusual, as ED occasionally posts security camera images of apparent criminal activity. Its most-recent such post was Feb. 12 and shows a man on a scooter with what appears to be boxes of large-screen televisions allegedly stolen from Target. Accompanying text provided an ED email address to report information on the suspect.
The claim against the city alleges Berg and ED continued to “publicly describe Mr. Moore as a criminal” after learning that he was an SDG&E employee.
Both ED and Berg, however, did post corrections about the earlier post, but it’s unclear from the claim how long they waited after learning of Moore’s employment. Berg wrote in his follow-up post that he had learned of the mistake that very day.
An undated screenshot provided by the law firm shows an ED post that read: “Earlier this week, the @elcajonpolice released a photo of a potential prowler. Working with SDGE, we have determined he was an employee on a job. We are sorry for any confusion this may have caused.”
Another screenshot from the law firm shows Berg’s post explaining what led to identifying Moore as a potential prowler. In the post, Berg wrote that he ed SDG&E multiple times after his security camera recorded a person in his backyard and was told that they had no record of someone at his house that day.
“After a thorough investigation prompted by our discussions, it turns out that he was indeed an SDG&E employee on official business,” Berg wrote. “Apparently, he was supposed to visit my home two weeks earlier, but due to a scheduling error, he arrived late without the operations team’s record.
“Additionally, he couldn’t access the yard through the regular gate, which led him to other parts of the yard typically off-limits for such visits.
“Today, his supervisor personally visited my home to apologize for the confusion, miscommunications, and inconsistencies given their on-site visit policies,” he wrote.
While Berg’s post explains the incident as an unfortunate mistake caused by miscommunications, the claim describes the conduct of the ED, Berg and the city as “intentional and malicious, carried out with willful and conscious disregard for the rights and safety of others, including Mr. Moore.”
The claim also alleges ED did not call SDG&E to ask if Moore was an employee, but would have if he was not Black.
