$7 billion verdict awarded after Charter Spectrum tried to forge documents in a murder case

Image: Charter Communications Inc.

A jury in Texas found Charter Communications liable for $7 billion in damages this week, as a result of a lawsuit from the family of an elderly woman who was stabbed to death by one of its employees. The jury awarded $375 million in damages in June.

There is an explanation behind the staggering figure of the verdict. It also includes the company's policies and responses to previous incidents of theft, as well as an attempt to forge a document that would have limited damages to the amount of her last bill.

Image: Dallas County, Texas courts portal

The jury decided that Charter tried to force the case into arbitration using forged documents. Charter tried to use a terms of service document that they claimed Thomas had agreed to in order to get him to agree to binding arbitration.

Lawyers for the family pointed out inconsistencies in the document during the trial. Dates on it that didn't match the times when it was pulled from Charter's system and a blank spot where Thomas' name should have been are included. The company's lawyers had different terms without the clause.

While the documents were supposed to represent evidence from Charter's live database, they showed an address that indicated the file was actually on someone's personal computer. The file address is localhost:62220/VewContracts.

Localhost is a loopback address, meaning that the request isn't leaving the computer it started from or accessing any other network or database at all.

According to a USA Today report, the murder of Thomas was committed by a Spectrum cable repairman who returned to Thomas' home the day after being dispatched to fix her fax machine. Lawyers for Thomas' family argued in court that the technician used his company key card to go to the woman's house and kill her after she caught him trying to steal her credit cards.

Charter charged Thomas a one-time fee of $58.94 for the service call after he was late on his bill.

Charter was found to have committed an act or omission that a person using ordinary care would have foreseen the injury, and it was given 90 percent of the responsibility. Charter failed to perform a background check that would have shown he lied about his work history and submitted evidence that he had asked for help from supervisors and management due to personal problems.

He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder.

According to the lawyers for Thomas' family, Charter Spectrum techs had been responsible for more than 2,500 thefts against customers over the course of several years, and the company refused to investigate or report them to the police. Charter was found guilty of contempt for failing to produce other documents and the court included a spoliation order with the jury instructions.

Charter spoke after the verdict.

Our hearts go out to Mrs. Thomas’ family in the wake of this senseless and tragic crime. The responsibility for this horrible act rests solely with Mr. Holden, who was not on duty, and we are grateful he is in prison for life. While we respect the jury and the justice system, we strongly disagree with the verdict and will appeal.

The law in Texas and the facts presented at trial clearly show this crime was not foreseeable — and the plaintiffs’ claims of wrongdoing by Charter are categorically false. We are committed to the safety of all our customers and took the necessary steps, including a thorough pre-employment criminal background check — which showed no arrests, convictions or other criminal behavior. Nor did anything in Mr. Holden’s performance after he was hired suggest he was capable of the crime he committed, including more than 1,000 completed service calls with zero customer complaints about his behavior.

Charter reported $13.6 billion in revenue for the second quarter of 2022, driven by growth in residential, mobile and commercial revenue. The case was not mentioned in the press release or transcript of the earnings call. There was a document filed with the SEC that mentioned it.

The Company has considered various factors, including the legal and factual circumstances of the case, the trial record, the jury verdicts, the status of the proceedings, applicable law, the views of legal counsel, the court’s rulings in advance of and during the trial, along with upcoming post-trial motions of the parties in determining the various grounds for appeal that the Company expects to vigorously pursue and the likelihood of a successful appeal. Based on these factors, the Company has concluded that a loss from this case is not probable and reasonably estimable. Therefore, the Company has not accrued a liability for the adverse verdict in its financial statements as of June 30, 2022.