US nuclear plant operators sued in class action over worker pay

Constellation Energy CEG, Duke Energy DUK, Pacific Gas & Electric and all other operators of the country’s commercial nuclear power plants have been accused in a new lawsuit of conspiring to suppress pay for thousands of workers since 2003.

Two power generation workers filed the proposed class action on July 11 in Maryland federal court, accusing 26 nuclear plant operators and two consulting firms of illegally sharing wage information with each other in a conspiracy to keep compensation artificially low.

The lawsuit said the alleged information-sharing scheme violated antitrust law.

The defendants, a group that also includes Dominion Energy D and Entergy ETR, produce all the nuclear-generated electricity sold to consumers in the U.S., according to the 129-page complaint.

In a statement, Duke Energy on Monday called its compensation competitive and said it was "market-based, performance-oriented and aligned with the company’s business priorities."

Constellation, Pacific Gas & Electric, Dominion and Entergy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Attorneys for the two plaintiffs – former employees at Dominion and Entergy – in a statement said they “are eager to fight for workers at nuclear power plants who have been victimized by a conspiracy to depress their wages.”

A former human resources executive in the industry said nuclear power companies exchanged compensation information “all the time,” according to the lawsuit. Nuclear plants allegedly exchanged pay data for “compensation comparison reports” that showed current wages and future increases, allowing companies to illegally coordinate.

The proposed class of nuclear plant workers contains at least tens of thousands of people, the lawsuit said.

The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages and a court order blocking any continued coordination on salaries and other benefits.

Other industries too have been hit by lawsuits in recent years accusing major U.S. companies of suppressing employee pay.

In one of those cases, a U.S. appeals court in May had revived a lawsuit accusing large shipbuilders of conspiring to deflate wages for naval architects and marine engineers.

The case is Leo Dorrell and John Dunn v. Constellation Energy Corp et al, U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, No. 1:25-cv-02251-ABA.

For plaintiffs: Matthew Handley and George Farah of Handley Farah & Anderson; Shana Scarlett and Steve Berman of Hagens Berman; Brent Johnson and Daniel Silverman of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll

For defendants: No appearances yet

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