Edison International officials and directors misled the effectiveness of their efforts to reduce wildfire risks in the months and years before the devastating Eaton fire, shareholder lawsuits alleged.

The lawsuit filed last week in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, noting that since 2018, the utility's federal regulatory report said the risk of catastrophic wildfires increased by more than 85% by adding equipment inspections, tree pruning and other work designed to stop the fire.

The complaint also raised doubts about Edison's news releases and other statements shortly after Eaton's opening, which killed 18 people and destroyed thousands of homes and businesses in Altadena.

"We take all legal matters seriously," said Edison spokesman Jeff Monford. "We will review this lawsuit and respond through appropriate legal channels."

The lawsuit says Edison's early statements about the Eaton fire, which details why it believes its equipment is not involved in the fire's start, are wrong.

"Edison covers up the facts by making false and misleading statements about his role in the fire," the lawsuit said.

Recently, Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro Leading theory To catch a fire, an unused, decades-old transmission line was re-invigorated in Eaton Canyon.

State and local fire investigators investigated the official cause of the deadly fire.

The lawsuit was filed as a derivative action, where shareholders sued the company's officials and directors on behalf of the company, claiming that they had breached their fiduciary obligations. It seeks financial losses from Pizarro, Chief Financial Officer Maria Rigatti and company board members. The money recovered will be handed over to the company.

It also directed Edison to “take all necessary actions” to reform its corporate governance procedures, comply with all laws, and to protect the company and its investors from “recurring recurrences of destructive events.”

The lawsuit was filed by Charlotte Bark, shareholder of Edison International, a parent company in Southern California.

"Before the Eaton fire broke out, the company had a long history of not prioritizing the safety of people living in the areas it serves, and was fined as a result." It said Edison had paid $1.3 billion in financial fines for violating utility safety regulations since 2000.

The complaint points to an October regulatory report, which is era Report. In this article, state regulators criticized some of Edison's mitigation measures, including lagging behind checking transmission lines in high-risk areas.

The lawsuit lists the major destructive wildfires that investigators say have been caused by Edison equipment in recent years, including the Bobcat and Silverado fires in 2020, and the Coastal and Fairview fires in 2022.

"Recurrent wildfires related to the company show that the board has repeatedly failed to mitigate the risk of a major threat to Edison," the complaint states.

The lawsuit accused Pizarro, Rigatti and the company's board of directors of "serious mismanagement" and claimed that the defendants themselves "unjustly enriched themselves".

“The compensation they receive is excessive and undue due to the failure of individual defendants to perform their respective duties,” the lawsuit said.

It requires the court to submit an order to repay the compensation, including returning the compensation they received, which is related to the performance of the company.