A Texas jury has ordered Charter Communications to pay more than $7 billion to the family of an elderly woman who was murdered by a Spectrum employee in 2019.
NBC News reports Betty Thomas, 83, was robbed and stabbed to death in her home in December 2019 by Roy James Holden, an installer for Spectrum, which is owned by Charter Communications.
Back in June, a judge ordered Charter to pay 90 percent of $375 million in compensatory damages to Thomas’ family. The verdict for punitive damages was announced this week, bringing the total to $7.37 billion.
Prosecutors determined that Charter Spectrum hired Holden “without verifying his employment, which would have revealed that he had lied about his work history.” He is currently serving a life sentence in prison after pleading guilty to the murder.
“This was a shocking breach of faith by a company that sends workers inside millions of homes every year,” Chris Hamilton, a lawyer representing the Thomas family, said in a statement. “The jury in this case was thoughtful and attentive to the evidence. This verdict justly reflects the extensive evidence regarding the nature of the harm caused by Charter Spectrum’s gross negligence and reckless misconduct. For the safety of the American public, we can only hope that Charter Spectrum and its shareholders are listening.”
Charter spokesman Rich Ruggiero told NBC 5 that the company plans to 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. “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.”
