in the article....
“Thomas’ family sued Charter [PDF] in 2020 for negligence. It was alleged in testimony that Holden had complained to his bosses that he was penniless and desperate after a divorce. 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.
During that civil trial it was also claimed Thomas’ family was charged $58 for Holden’s service call, and continued to be billed after their grandmother’s brutal slaying to the point where her account was sent to collections.
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. According to the family’s legal team, while Holden was seemingly making repairs, he tried to steal one or more of her bank cards from her purse, and murdered her when he was caught in the act. He later went on a spending spree with her funds, it was claimed.
“This was a shocking breach of faith by a company that sends workers inside millions of homes every year,” said the one of family’s trial lawyers Chris Hamilton, of Dallas-based Hamilton Wingo, in a statement.
According to the law firm, 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. During the civil trial, the court heard how 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.
It was further claimed the cable giant tried to force the lawsuit into closed-door arbitration where the results would have been secret and damages limited”
Lawyers argued successfully that this person had no business entering peoples homes and they knew it. Will they pay 7B? of course not
“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.”
Ouch.
That is how a million dollar lawsuit turns into a billion dollar lawsuit.