#BeAlert- Cable company fined with $7 billion verdict over murder of customer

 

A Texas jury has ordered Charter Communications to pay $7 billion in punitive damages to the family of an 83-year-old woman who was murdered in her home by a Spectrum cable technician. A Dallas County Court jury returned a $7 billion verdict on Tuesday after previously finding Charter liable for $337.5 million in  damages. 

 judges can reduce damages. Charter says she should not be held responsible for her murder and  plans to appeal. A jury that determined Charter's negligence was the leading cause of death early in the case reportedly reached a $7 billion verdict after deliberating for less than two hours. Chris Hamilton, one of  

 Family's attorneys, said in a press release on Tuesday, "This was a shocking betrayal of trust by a company that sends workers to millions of homes each year." The jury in this case was thoughtful and attentive to the evidence, and the verdict correctly reflected the extensive evidence of the nature of the damage caused by Charter Spectrum's gross negligence and reckless misconduct. 

 Former Spectrum Technician Roy Holden pleaded guilty to killing customer Betty Thomas in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison in April 2021. The day after the service call, he robs and murders Thomas. In his press release, he described the murder as follows: Charter claimed the next day that he was not on duty, but Mr Thomas still reported  problems with  service and used his company key card to enter the protected vehicle parking lot on Charter Spectrum. I was able to access and find out that he had access to his Charter Spectrum... drive the van to her house. Once inside, the victim, Mr. Thomas, found a salesperson stealing his credit card from his wallet while fixing a fax machine. Then her Roy Holden, a Charter Spectrum field technician, mercilessly stabbed her 83-year-old customer with a utility knife provided by Charter Spectrum and took her credit her card and went shopping.

Charter accused of forgery

The press release further said that "Charter Spectrum attorneys used a forged document to try to force the lawsuit into a closed-door arbitration where the results would have been secret and damages for the murder would have been limited to the amount of Ms. Thomas`s final bill. The jury found that Charter Spectrum committed forgery beyond a reasonable doubt, conduct that constitutes a first-degree felony under Texas law." 

 The Dallas Morning News reported that verdict papers show the "jury agreed that Charter 'knowingly and intentionally' forged the documents." 

 Trial testimony also revealed that Charter "hired Roy Holden without verifying his employment history, which would have revealed that he had lied about his work history," and that "supervisors ignored a series of red flags, including Mr. Holden's own written pleas to upper management for help because of severe distress over financial and family problems," the family's lawyers said. Additionally, "Charter Spectrum's employees admitted at trial the field tech's theft and crimes against the victim began while he was on duty and in the course and scope of his employment the day before."

Damages likely to be lowered based on precedent

A high level of punitive damages awarded increases the likelihood that a judge will reduce the sentence. "Such punitive damages  are never paid. They are always reduced," said  W. Marklanier, a civil trial attorney in Texas, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal. “These are messages about how frustrated the jury was with the awful facts,” 

  WSJ also said, citing California-based consumer attorney Brian Kabatek. Kabatek said he suspected, "This judge will probably take a very dim view of the size of this sentence and probably cut it short." 

 A 2003 U.S. Supreme Court decision states, "In practice, few awards significantly exceeding  single-digit  punitive damages ratios satisfy due process." While such ratios are not binding, "single-digit multipliers are more consistent with due process while  achieving state goals of deterrence and retaliation than rewards with ratios in  the 500-to-1 range." high,” the judge said. 

 California U.S. District Court judge downgraded jury punitive damages verdict from $130 million to $13.5 million, a 9-to-1 ratio to $1.5 million in damages in April cited this case. In this case, including the racial abuse of Tesla's factory workers, the judge wrote that "a nine-to-one ratio to damages is justified and constitutional." For the 

 Charter, even a 9:1 ratio would  result in  over $3 billion in punitive damages.

Charter will seek $0 in damages

The Charter aims to reduce the harm of appeals to zero, saying that it should not have been held accountable at all. At Ars' request, the company today issued a statement that was similar to the statement it made after the  damages judgment. 

 "Texas law  and  facts presented in court clearly show that the crime was unpredictable, and plaintiffs' allegations that charter committed cheating are clearly false." Charter said. "We have worked to ensure the safety of all our clients and have taken the necessary steps, including a thorough check of their criminal record before employment. As a result, no arrests, convictions or other criminal acts have occurred. Also, there is nothing to suggest about Mr Holden's post-employment performance as a possible crime he committed, which is more than 1,000 services without customer complaints about his actions. It also includes completing the call. It's a crime, "he said." The responsibility for this horrific act lies solely with Mr. Holden, who was away from work, and  he is grateful that he has been sentenced to life. There is. 

 Charter, America's second-largest cable company after Comcast, posted $13.2 billion in revenue last quarter on a net profit. reported $1.2 billion.

Charter had “many chances to prevent this tragedy”

The plaintiffs` lawyers pointed to various missteps by Charter, as we noted in our previous coverage: 

 Attorneys for Thomas' family reportedly said that testimony during the 11-day trial "revealed systemic failures of the company's pre-employee screening, hiring and supervision practices, as well as failures to address known warning signs and control the off-duty use of company vehicles—all of which led to the preventable murder of Betty Thomas of Irving." The family's attorneys also said Charter "inexplicably ended its pre-employment screening program" after purchasing Time Warner Cable in 2016 and that Holden was hired "even though a cursory review of his previous employers would have revealed firings for forgery, falsifying documents and harassment of fellow employees." 

 According to other testimony at the trial, "Thomas' family later received a $58 charge for Holden's service call, and the bills continued to come after the murder and eventually they were sent to a collection agency," the Fort Worth Star-Telegram wrote on Friday. 

 Family lawyer Ray Khirallah said in Tuesday's press release that "Charter Spectrum had too many chances to prevent this tragedy, and the company showed a complete disregard for the safety of its customers... This verdict fairly reflects the extent of the evidence against Charter Spectrum and the dangerous nature of the company's serious misconduct and violations of the law."