In late July, a Dallas jury awarded the Estate of Betty Thomas $7 billion in punitive damages on top of the $375 million in actual damages it awarded one month earlier.  How did this happen and what happens next?

In December 2019, Roy James Holden, an employee of Charter Spectrum, a cable company, paid a service call to Thomas’s house.  The next day, “broke”, “hungry” and off-duty, Holden returned to Thomas’s house driving a Spectrum van and dressed in his service uniform.  Holden stabbed Thomas to death using a Spectrum utility knife and wearing company issued gloves, leaving her body in the living room in front of the television. Holden then stole Thomas’s credit cards and went on a spending spree.  He was subsequently arrested and pleaded guilty, and is currently serving a life sentence.

During the actual damages phase of the trial against Spectrum, the jury heard evidence about Spectrum’s elimination of an employee screening program in 2016 when it purchased Time Warner Cable. The screening program, had it been in effect when Holden was hired, would have shown that Holden lied about his employment history and was fired from former jobs because of forgery, falsifying documents and harassment. Spectrum also had a training video about warning signs for violence which its head of security testified was supposed to have been shown to all employees, but which several employees testified they were never shown.

The jury also heard evidence that in the days before murdering Thomas, Holden told his supervisor in an email that he was experiencing personal and financial distress due to his divorce.  His supervisor responded, “get back to work lol”.  A manager a Spectrum also testified that Holden broke down in tears at a meeting.

Testimony was elicited that due to financial distress, in the weeks preceding the murder, Holden was sleeping in a Spectrum-owned van.  He had begun stealing credit cards and checks from elderly Spectrum clients.  The jury also heard testimony that Spectrum disregarded a request by local police to preserve the videotape of Holden taking the company van from Spectrum’s lot on the day of the murder.  The videotape was automatically deleted after 30 days.

Some of the most inflammatory evidence the jury heard and what may have prompted the “nuclear” verdict related to a forged document and Spectrum’s billing practices.  Spectrum, in support of a motion to compel arbitration of Thomas’s claims, produced a contract that purported to show that Thomas has agreed to certain terms of service, including an arbitration agreement.  Plaintiffs argued that the contact was forged.  The jury agreed, specifically finding that in their punitive damage verdict that Spectrum “knowingly or intentionally committed forgery of the terms and conditions of service.”

The jury also heard evidence that Spectrum sent invoices to Thomas and her family for $58, the charge for the service call that led to Thomas’s murder.  Spectrum later sent the outstanding bill to a collection agency for further action.

Spectrum has already stated it intends to appeal the award on the basis that Holden’s act was not “foreseeable” and that the amount of punitive damages awarded violates Texas law and the United States constitution.

As a general rule, punitive damages in Texas are limited by statute to twice the economic damages plus an amount of non-economic damages found by a jury, not to exceed $750,000.  However, as with most general rules, there are exceptions.  For instance, the cap does not apply to a knowing or intentional violation of the criminal forgery statute or to fraudulently securing the signature on a document. Given these exceptions and the jury’s verdict, Spectrum has already indicated that it also intends to appeal the size of the punitive damage award on the basis that violates substantive due process and other rights under the United States Constitution.

Whether Spectrum chooses to appeal the Dallas verdict to the Texas Supreme Court and beyond, or whether it instead opts to settle with Thomas’s estate, remains to be seen. The impact of the Dallas jury’s award, however, will reverberate around courtrooms and boardrooms alike for many months to come.

The attorneys in our Austin and Dallas offices are experienced litigators who would welcome any questions you may have.  You may contact us at info@gstexlaw.com.

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