Grandma Betty Thomas, 83, of Texas, was fatally stabbed in her home in 2019 by a Spectrum employee. Her family has been awarded more than $7 billion in damages from a cable provider.
Thomas' Irving residence, according to the police at the time. Prosecutors claim that Holden killed her the following day while pretending
to be on the job and using the company van while he was off. He then used her credit cards to go shopping after her death, according to the prosecution.
A Dallas County jury convicted Charter Communications guilty of negligence and gross negligence in connection with Thomas' death in June.
The trial uncovered "systematic flaws" in the business's pre-employment screening, hiring, and supervision policies, and the jury awarded
$375 million in compensatory damages, with the company being liable for paying 90% of it. Punitive damages were awarded on Tuesday, increasing the total to $7.37 billion.
"This was a startling violation of faith by a firm that sends workers inside millions of homes every year," said trial attorney Chris Hamilton, who represented the Thomas family in the case.
"In this instance, the jury deliberated and paid close attention to the evidence. The substantial evidence on the nature of the injury
brought on by Charter Spectrum's egregious negligence and careless behaviour is fairly reflected in this verdict.
Charter Spectrum recruited Holden "without validating his employment, which would have shown that he had misled about his work history,"
according to trial testimony in the case, Hamilton said in a release. "Red flags" that Spectrum managers allegedly ignored were mentioned in the hearing.