Stamford-headquartered Charter Communications has been ordered by a Texas jury to pay $7 billion in punitive damages to the family of an 83-year-old grandmother who was robbed and murdered in December 2019 by a Spectrum cable repairman employed by the company.
According to a USA Today report, Charter was also deemed responsible last month for $337.5 million in compensatory damages for the murder of Betty Jo McClain Thomas by Roy James Holden, who pleaded guilty to Thomas”™ murder and was sentenced to life in prison.
The attorneys for Thomas”™ family said Holden had lied about his previous jobs and Charter failed to verify his employment history. During the trial, it was determined that Holden kept his job despite repeated disciplinary actions. Holden murdered Thomas one day after he was at his home as part of his Charter duties.
Charter sent an overdue bill to Thomas’ house after her death, which included a $58.94 charge for Holden”™s work on the day before he killed her. In March 2021, Charter tried unsuccessfully to force the Thomas family into arbitration, where the damages would have equivalent to Thomas”™ final bill of roughly $200.
In a written statement from Charter spokesman Rich Ruggiero, the company said it would appeal the verdict.
“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,” Ruggiero said.
