Charter Communications was once sued for more than $7 billion in the murder of an elderly customer in his home by a former cable technician. However, Charter is now trying to settle the lawsuit for less than $262 million.
A Dallas County Court jury last year determined that Charter should pay $7 billion in punitive damages and $337.5 million in compensatory damages to the victims’ families and property. A judge reduced the sum to her more than $1.1 billion.
Charter said it plans to appeal the $1.1 billion judgment and the two sides have negotiated a settlement. Instead of risking an appeal, the family apparently opted to receive a smaller amount, potentially prolonging the lawsuit, reducing the amount of damages, or overturning the verdict.
Charter explained the results of the settlement negotiations it filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday. Charter said plaintiffs’ financial demands steadily declined in the months following the judgment, and Charter’s insurance company put pressure on the cable company to enter into a contract. ) has entered into a tentative settlement with a charter subsidiary.
On January 11, 2023, after issuing a series of dwindling Settlement Claims over several months, Plaintiffs issued new, lower Settlement Claims against CC, LLC and their insurers, then on January 18, 2023. On date, plaintiff also filed the following notice: Remittance to the court to further reduce the judgment to $262 million, which includes $87 million in actual damages and $175 million in punitive damages. On January 24, 2023, in response to the claims and demands of the insurers, CC, LLC entered into a preliminary settlement of this action for substantially less than the reduced judgment, and to the extent of CC, LLC’s insurance coverage. reached.
“If the settlement is not final and binding, CC, LLC will continue to vigorously defend this litigation, including pursuing all available appeals,” Charter’s filing also said. , said it “paid a bond of $25 million to suspend the judgment pending appeal.”
A Light Reading article on Charter’s filing stated that the settlement amount was “well within Charter’s insurance coverage and should not cost Charter anything… to litigation.” Charter is the second-largest cable company in the United States. , with revenue of $54 billion and net income of $5.1 billion in 2022.
The jury found Charter guilty of forgery and gross negligence
Former Charter Spectrum technician Roy Holden pleaded guilty to the murder of 83-year-old customer Betty Thomas in 2019 and was sentenced to life in prison in April 2021. for his actions, including stealing credit cards and checks from an elderly female customer.
Judge Juan Renteria reduced the award of damages but ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, challenging the jury’s conclusion that “the death of Mrs. Thomas was caused by Charter’s gross negligence.” I didn’t chant defraud or harm the plaintiff; “
“This was a shocking act of betrayal by a company that sends workers to millions of homes each year,” one of the family’s attorneys said after the jury verdict.According to the family’s law firm, Thomas When Holden was caught stealing credit cards from her wallet, he “brutally stabbed an 83-year-old customer with a Utility Knife provided by Charter Spectrum and continued to squander on her credit cards.” .
After the family filed a lawsuit, “Charter Spectrum’s attorneys used forged documents to attempt to bring the case to closed arbitration, but the results were confidential and the murder damages were the final claims of Mr. Thomas.” was limited to the amount of the book,” the law firm said.
In a statement to the media, Charter said the “crime was not foreseeable,” and that Holden’s pre-employment criminal background check “did not show any arrest, conviction, or other criminal activity.” Charter also states that Holden has “completed over 1,000 service calls and received zero customer complaints of his conduct.”
Disclosure: The Advance/Newhouse Partnership, which owns 12.4% of the charter, is part of Advance Publications. Advance Publications owns Condé Nast who owns Ars Technica.
