Charter won't pay out $7b after cable installer murdered woman. Just $1b instead A Dallas judge has reduced the amount Charter Communications must pay the family of a subscriber murdered by one of its Spectrum cable technicians. Despite the reduction, the court still considers the American broadband giant's negligence was a factor in the slaying. Last year, Spectrum technician Roy Holden Jr admitted he …
"...using a Charter-issued knife and gloves."
Charter was hiring on the cheap, again. Usually, it employs bargain-basement subcontractors (some, fresh out of the can).
If you give the low-wage-accepting, criminally insane really cool knives and gloves, murders are going to happen, especially when your customers complain about your sh!tty reception or refuse to hand over their credit cards.
Charter has no appeal and deserves to lose on it.
So the guy on his day off goes back to a customers home in a company van and murders her using company equipment and in addition to locking up and dining the perpetrator they also go after his employer?
If he had bought the weapon and gloves from Walmart would they have gone after them too?
Can people go after the us government when relatives are killed by people employed by government / state / publicly funded entities?
I can totally understand Charter appealing.
"I can totally understand Charter appealing."
To the extent that the fine seems to indicate they completely culpable, yes, it's understandable. But this and the original article do make it clear that there were specific failings by Charter in their hiring and vetting process as well as their duty of care to employees and customers. When you employ people that go into customers homes, you have some responsibility to make sure they are mentally stable and "safe" around vulnerable people. You also don't let them wander into your vehicle pool on their day off and take a van without authorisation or a job sheet.
Anyone can appeal anything but in this instance, the law of respondent superior applies. If not for Charter or Spectrum, this killer would not have been on the premises and allowed inside the home TO REPAIR OR INSTALL CHARTER OWNED EQUIPMENT. More simply this murderous chap was not a subcontractor, nor was he acting independently of his employ. To the contrary, he was using company equipment, a company truck, company reputation, etc.
The company is responsible for hiring, training and actions of the servant by the master. The Jury found this so errant they awarded treble damages for gross negligence.
This has happened before... Skyline Chem-Dry and Stanley Steamer murders... Carpet cleaning seems to be a job criminals find enjoyable. And who knows better about cleaning up blood residue than Stanely Steamer?
Maybe this Chap from Spectrum should have called Stanely Steamer... Then he might still be handling service calls for Charter and Spectrum.
.... before going Wtf.
" It was alleged in testimony that Holden had complained to his bosses that he was penniless and desperate... It was further alleged that he had stolen credit cards and checks from elderly Spectrum subscribers, and that the corporation turned a blind eye to a pattern of theft by its installers and technicians."
" The court heard how Holden was not working the day he killed Thomas, and went out to her home anyway to rob her. He was able to use his company keycard to access a Charter vehicle lot and drive off in one of its service vans even though he was off-duty."
" Holden lied about his employment history – such as not revealing he had been previously fired – which wasn't checked by Charter when it hired him and would have been one of many red flags against him... Holden would break down crying at work, at one point was convinced he was a former Dallas Cowboys football player, suffered from insomnia, and was probably sleeping overnight in his Spectrum van."
https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/27/charter_spectrum_murder_damages/
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